Rice Cultivar Designated &#39;PVL03&#39;

ABSTRACT

The herbicide-tolerant rice cultivar designated ‘PVL03’ and its hybrids and derivatives are disclosed.

The benefit of the 29 Sep. 2020 filing date of U.S. provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 63/084,637 is claimed under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) inthe United States, and is claimed under applicable treaties andconventions in all countries.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention pertains to the rice cultivar designated ‘PVL03,’ and tohybrids of, and cultivars derived from the rice cultivar designated‘PVL03.’

BACKGROUND ART

Rice is an ancient agricultural crop, and remains one of the world'sprincipal food crops. There are two cultivated species of rice: Oryzasativa L., the Asian rice, and O. glaberrima Steud., the African rice.Oryza sativa L. constitutes virtually all of the world's cultivated riceand is the species grown in the United States. The three majorrice-producing regions in the United States are the Mississippi Delta(Arkansas, Mississippi, northeast Louisiana, southeast Missouri), theGulf Coast (southwest Louisiana, southeast Texas); and the CentralValley of California. See generally U.S. Pat. No. 6,911,589.

Rice is a semiaquatic crop that benefits from flooded soil conditionsduring part or all of the growing season. In the United States, rice istypically grown on flooded soil to optimize grain yields. Heavy claysoils or silt loam soils with hard pan layers about 30 cm below thesurface are typical rice-producing soils, because they reduce water lossfrom soil percolation. Rice production in the United States can bebroadly categorized as either dry-seeded or water-seeded. In thedry-seeded system, rice is sown into a well-prepared seed bed with agrain drill or by broadcasting the seed and incorporating it with a diskor harrow. Moisture for seed germination comes from irrigation orrainfall. Another method of dry-seeding is to broadcast the seed byairplane into a flooded field, and then promptly drain the water fromthe field. For the dry-seeded system, when the plants have reachedsufficient size (four- to five-leaf stage), a shallow permanent flood ofwater 5 to 16 cm deep is applied to the field for the remainder of thecrop season. Some rice is grown in upland production systems, withoutflooding.

One method of water-seeding is to soak rice seed for 12 to 36 hours toinitiate germination, and then to broadcast the seed by airplane into aflooded field. The seedlings emerge through a shallow flood, or thewater may be drained from the field for a short time to enhance seedlingestablishment. A shallow flood is then maintained until the riceapproaches maturity. For both the dry-seeded and water-seeded productionsystems, the fields are drained when the crop is mature, and the rice isharvested 2 to 3 weeks later with large combines.

In rice breeding programs, breeders typically use the same productionsystems that predominate in the region. Thus, a drill-seeded breedingnursery is typically used by breeders in a region where rice isdrill-seeded, and a water-seeded nursery is typically used in regionswhere water-seeding prevails.

Rice in the United States is classified into three primary market typesby grain size, shape, and endosperm composition: long-grain,medium-grain, and short-grain. Typical U.S. long-grain cultivars cookdry and fluffy when steamed or boiled, whereas medium- and short-graincultivars cook moist and sticky. Long-grain cultivars have beentraditionally grown in the southern states and generally receive highermarket prices in the U.S.

Although specific breeding objectives vary somewhat in differentregions, increasing yield is a primary objective in all programs. Grainyield depends, in part, on the number of panicles per unit area, thenumber of fertile florets per panicle, and grain weight per floret.Increases in any or all of these components may help improve yields.Heritable variation exists for each of these components, and breedersmay directly or indirectly select for any of them.

There are numerous steps in the development of any novel, desirableplant germplasm. Plant breeding begins with the analysis and definitionof problems and weaknesses of the current germplasm, the establishmentof program goals, and the definition of specific breeding objectives.The next step is selection (or generation) of germplasm that possessesthe desired traits to meet the program goals. A goal is often to combinein a single variety an improved combination of desirable traits from twoor more ancestral germplasm lines. These traits may include such thingsas higher seed yield, resistance to disease or insects, better stems androots, tolerance to low temperatures, and better agronomiccharacteristics or grain quality.

The choice of breeding and selection methods depends on the mode ofplant reproduction, the heritability of the trait(s) being improved, andthe type of seed that is used commercially (e.g., F₁ hybrid, versus pureline or inbred cultivars). For highly heritable traits, a choice ofsuperior individual plants evaluated at a single location may sometimesbe effective, while for traits with low or more complex heritability,selection is often based on mean values obtained from replicatedevaluations of families of related plants. Selection methods includepedigree selection, modified pedigree selection, mass selection,recurrent selection, and combinations of these methods.

The complexity of inheritance influences the choice of breeding method.Backcross breeding is used to transfer one or a few favorable genes fora highly heritable trait into a desirable cultivar. This approach hasbeen used extensively for breeding disease-resistant cultivars. Variousrecurrent selection techniques are used to improvequantitatively-inherited traits controlled by numerous genes. The use ofrecurrent selection in self-pollinating crops depends on the ease ofpollination, the frequency of successful hybrids from each pollination,and the number of hybrid offspring from each successful cross.

Promising advanced breeding lines are thoroughly tested and compared toappropriate standards in environments representative of the commercialtarget area(s), typically for three or more years. The best lines becomecandidates for new commercial cultivars; those still deficient in a fewtraits may be used as parents to produce new populations for furtherselection.

These processes, which lead ultimately to marketing and distribution ofnew cultivars or hybrids, typically take 8 to 12 years from the time ofthe first cross; they may further rely on (and be delayed by) thedevelopment of improved breeding lines as precursors. Development of newcultivars and hybrids is a time-consuming process that requires preciseforward planning and efficient use of resources. There are neverassurances of a successful outcome.

A particularly difficult task is the identification of individual plantsthat are, indeed, genetically superior. A plant's phenotype results froma complex interaction of genetics and environment. One method foridentifying a genetically superior plant is to observe its performancerelative to other experimental plants and to a widely grown standardcultivar raised in an identical environment. Repeated observations frommultiple locations can help provide a better estimate of genetic worth.

The goal of rice breeding is to develop new, unique, and superior ricecultivars and hybrids. The breeder initially selects and crosses two ormore parental lines, followed by self-pollination and selection,producing many new genetic combinations. The breeder can generatebillions of different genetic combinations via crossing, selfing, andmutation breeding. The traditional breeder has no direct control ofgenetics at the molecular level. Therefore, two traditional breedersworking independently of one another will never develop the same line,or even very similar lines, with the same traits.

Each year, the plant breeder selects germplasm to advance to the nextgeneration. This germplasm is grown under different geographical,climatic, and soil conditions. Further selections are then made, duringand at the end of the growing season. The resulting cultivars (orhybrids) and their characteristics are inherently unpredictable. This isbecause the traditional breeder's selection occurs in uniqueenvironments, with no control at the molecular level, and withpotentially billions of different possible genetic combinations beinggenerated. A breeder cannot predict the final resulting line, exceptpossibly in a very gross and generic fashion. Further, the same breedermay not produce the same cultivar twice, even starting with the sameparental lines, using the same selection techniques. This uncontrollablevariation results in substantial effort and expenditures in developingsuperior new rice cultivars (or hybrids); and makes each new cultivar(or hybrid) novel and unpredictable.

The selection of superior hybrid crosses is conducted slightlydifferently. Hybrid seed is typically produced by manual crosses betweenselected male-fertile parents or by using genetic male sterilitysystems. These hybrids are typically selected for single gene traitsthat unambiguously indicate that a plant is indeed an F₁ hybrid that hasinherited traits from both presumptive parents, particularly the maleparent (since rice normally self-fertilizes). Such traits might include,for example, a semi dwarf plant type, pubescence, awns, or apiculuscolor. Additional data on parental lines, as well as the phenotype ofthe hybrid, influence the breeder's decision whether to continue with aparticular hybrid cross or an analogous cross, using related parentallines.

Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection breeding methods are sometimesused to develop cultivars from breeding populations. These breedingmethods combine desirable traits from two or more cultivars or othergermplasm sources into breeding pools from which cultivars are developedby selfing and selection of desired phenotypes. The new cultivars areevaluated to determine commercial potential.

Pedigree breeding is often used to improve self-pollinating crops. Twoparents possessing favorable, complementary traits are crossed toproduce F₁ plants. An F₂ population is produced by selfing one or moreF₁s. Selection of the superior individual plants may begin in the F₂ (orlater) generation. Then, beginning in the F₃ (or other subsequent)generation, individual plants are selected. Replicated testing ofpanicle rows from the selected plants can begin in the F₄ (or othersubsequent) generation, both to fix the desired traits and to improvethe effectiveness of selection for traits that have low heritability. Atan advanced stage of inbreeding (e.g., F₆ or F₇), the best lines ormixtures of phenotypically-similar lines are tested for potentialrelease as new cultivars.

Mass and recurrent selection methods can also be used to improvepopulations of either self- or cross-pollinating crops. A geneticallyvariable population of heterozygous individuals is either identified orcreated by intercrossing several different parents. The best offspringplants are selected based on individual superiority, outstandingprogeny, or excellent combining ability. The selected plants areintercrossed to produce a new population in which further cycles ofselection are continued.

Backcross breeding is often used to transfer genes for a simplyinherited, highly heritable trait into a desirable homozygous cultivaror inbred line, which is the recurrent parent. The source of the traitto be transferred is called the donor parent. The resulting plant shouldideally have the attributes of the recurrent parent (e.g., cultivar) andthe desired new trait transferred from the donor parent. After theinitial cross, individuals possessing the desired donor phenotype (e.g.,disease resistance, insect resistance, herbicide tolerance) are selectedand repeatedly crossed (backcrossed) to the recurrent parent.

The single-seed descent procedure in the strict sense refers to plantinga segregating population, harvesting a sample of one seed per plant, andusing the one-seed sample to plant the next generation. When thepopulation has been advanced from the F₂ generation to the desired levelof inbreeding, the several plants from which the lines are derived willeach trace to different F₂ individuals. The number of plants in apopulation declines each generation, due to failure of some seeds togerminate or the failure of some plants to produce at least one seed. Asa result, not all of the F₂ plants originally sampled in the populationwill be represented by progeny in subsequent generations.

In a multiple-seed procedure, the breeder harvests one or more seedsfrom each plant in a population and threshes them together to form abulk. Part of the bulk is used to plant the next generation and part isheld in reserve. The procedure has been referred to as modifiedsingle-seed descent or the pod-bulk technique. The multiple-seedprocedure has been used to save labor at harvest. It is considerablyfaster to thresh panicles by machine than to remove one seed from eachby hand as in the single-seed procedure. The multiple-seed procedurealso makes it possible to plant the same number of seeds from apopulation for each generation of inbreeding. Enough seeds are harvestedto compensate for plants that did not germinate or produce seed.

Other common and less-common breeding methods are known and used in theart. See, e.g., R. W. Allard, Principles of Plant Breeding (John Wileyand Sons, Inc., New York, New York, 1967); N. W. Simmonds, Principles ofCrop Improvement (Longman, London, 1979); J. Sneep et al., PlantBreeding Perspectives (Pudoc, Wageningen, 1979); and W. R. Fehr,Principles of Cultivar Development: Theory and Technique (MacmillanPub., New York, New York, 1987).

Proper testing should detect any major faults and establish the level ofsuperiority or improvement over current cultivars. In addition toshowing superior performance, there must be a demand for a new cultivaror hybrid; i.e., the new cultivar or hybrid should either be compatiblewith industry standards, or it should create a new market. Theintroduction of a new cultivar or hybrid may incur additional costs tothe seed producer, the grower, processor, and consumer for such thingsas special advertising and marketing, altered seed and commercialproduction practices, and new product utilization. The testing thatprecedes the release of a new cultivar or hybrid should take intoaccount research and development costs, in addition to technicalsuperiority of the final cultivar or hybrid.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,019,196 and 9,090,904 disclose herbicide-tolerant riceplants that are resistant to (or tolerant of) certain herbicides thatnormally inhibit the growth of rice plants, namely certain imidazolinoneand sulfonylurea herbicides. With herbicide-tolerant rice plants, ricegrowers can control weeds that previously were difficult to control inrice fields, including “red rice.” “Red rice” is a weedy relative ofcultivated rice, which had previously been difficult to control becauseit actually belongs to the same genus (Oryza), and sometimes even thesame species (O. sativa) as cultivated rice. Only in recent years, whenherbicide tolerant rice cultivars first became available, did it becomepossible to control red rice with herbicides in fields where cultivatedrice was growing contemporaneously.

Unfortunately, growers have seen both outcrossing of herbicide tolerancefrom cultivated herbicide-tolerant rice lines into red rice, andselective pressure favoring the evolution of herbicide-tolerant weedsgenerally—weeds that include both red rice and other weeds. There is anunfilled need for new herbicide-tolerant rice cultivars and hybrids—thatis, rice plants that not only express a desired herbicide-tolerantphenotype, but that also possess other agronomically desirablecharacteristics. Additional herbicide-tolerant cultivars and hybridswill provide rice growers greater flexibility in planting and managingcrops. There is particularly an unfilled need for new herbicide-tolerantrice cultivars and rice hybrids that are tolerant to differentcategories of herbicide, so that red rice and other weeds that may haveacquired resistance to imidazolinones and sulfonylureas can still becontrolled using an alternative herbicide chemistry. The ability torotate rice fields between herbicide-tolerant crops that are tolerant todifferent families of herbicides would be of great benefit both togrowers and to consumers.

Published patent applications US 2016/0264990, WO 2018/236802, and WO2020/219346 disclose rice plants tolerant to herbicides that inhibitacetyl-Coenzyme A carboxylase activity at levels of herbicide that wouldnormally inhibit the growth of a rice plant.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

I have discovered a novel, herbicide-tolerant, high yielding, earlymaturing, long-grain rice cultivar designated ‘PVL03.’ The grain yieldis excellent, and milling potential is excellent. ‘PVL03’ has typicalsouthern long grain cereal chemistry quality and cookingcharacteristics.

This invention also pertains to methods for producing a hybrid or a newvariety by crossing the rice variety ‘PVL03’ with another rice line, oneor more times. Such methods of using the rice variety ‘PVL03’ areaspects of this invention, including backcrossing, hybrid production,crosses to populations, and other breeding methods involving ‘PVL03.’Hybrid plants produced using the rice variety ‘PVL03’ as a parent arealso within the scope of this invention. Optionally, either parent can,through routine manipulation of cytoplasmic or other factors throughtechniques known in the art, be produced in a male-sterile form.

In another embodiment, this invention allows for single-gene convertedplants of ‘PVL03.’ The single transferred gene may be a dominant orrecessive allele. Preferably, the single transferred gene confers atrait such as resistance to insects; resistance to one or morebacterial, fungal, or viral diseases; male fertility or sterility;enhanced nutritional quality; enhanced processing qualities; or anadditional source of herbicide resistance. The single gene may be anaturally occurring rice gene or a transgene introduced through geneticengineering techniques known in the art. The single gene also may beintroduced through traditional backcrossing techniques or genetictransformation techniques known in the art.

In another embodiment, this invention provides regenerable cells for usein tissue culture of rice plant ‘PVL03.’ The tissue culture may allowfor regeneration of plants having physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of rice plant ‘PVL03’ and of regenerating plants havingsubstantially the same genotype as rice plant ‘PVL03.’ Tissue culturetechniques for rice are known in the art. The regenerable cells intissue culture may be derived from sources such as embryos, protoplasts,meristematic cells, callus, pollen, leaves, anthers, root tips, flowers,seeds, panicles, or stems. In addition, the invention provides riceplants regenerated from such tissue cultures.

In another embodiment, the present invention provides a method forproducing rice; the method comprises germinating, or planting andgerminating, a rice seed, and growing therefrom a plant to produce aphenotype of whole plant tolerance to a herbicide, wherein said ricebelongs to any of (a) variety ‘PVL03’ or (b) a hybrid, derivative, orprogeny of ‘PVL03’ that expresses the herbicide resistancecharacteristics of ‘PVL03.’ In another embodiment, the present inventionprovides a method for producing rice; the method comprises growing riceplant(s) in the presence of a herbicide to which it is tolerant, andoptionally comprises selecting rice plant(s) based on tolerance to theherbicide, wherein said rice belongs to any of (a) variety ‘PVL03’ or(b) a hybrid, derivative, or progeny of ‘PVL03’ that expresses theherbicide resistance characteristics of ‘PVL03.’ These methods canoptionally include a step of harvesting rice seed from the riceplant(s). In some embodiments, the rice plant(s) exhibit one or more of:tolerance to a cycloxydim herbicide applied at a 100 g AI/ha rate, or ata 200 g AI/ha rate; tolerance to a haloxyfop herbicide applied at a 100g AI/ha rate, or at a 200 g AI/ha rate; tolerance to a quizalofopherbicide; or tolerance to a tepraloxdyim herbicide.

In another embodiment, the present invention provides a method forproducing rice by breeding a ‘PVL03’ plant, or a hybrid, derivative, orprogeny plant thereof that comprises the herbicide resistance phenotypeof ‘PVL03,’ with another rice plant to produce a new plant, the newplant having the ACCase herbicide resistance phenotype of ‘PVL03.’ Sucha breeding process can involve step(s) of out-crossing, back-crossing,and/or self-crossing, whether by pollination, fusion of rice cellnuclei, or any other method known in the art. In some embodiments, thebreeding process can comprise step(s) involving chromosome doubling,embryo rescue, plantlet regeneration, or other techniques known in theart. In some embodiments of the method, said breeding includes obtainingan additional or modified gene in the new plant (or its seed) that was,respectively, absent from or unmodified in the PVL03 plant or in itshybrid, derivative, or progeny plant. In some embodiments, theadditional or modified gene can be expressed by the new plant to producea phenotype of: herbicide tolerance (e.g., using an herbicide-resistantACCase, AHAS, CYP450, EPSPS, GAT, GOX, HPPD, HST, PAT/bar, or PPX gene),pest or disease resistance (e.g., resistance toward one or more insect,nematode, fungus, bacteria, or virus), stress resistance (e.g.,resistance toward water stress, salinity, or heat stress), or alteredbiomolecule synthesis (e.g., increased or decreased biosynthesis of oneor more fatty acid, carbohydrate, polypeptide, or secondary metabolite),or other phenotypic trait gene known in the art. In some embodiments,the additional or modified gene is non-transgenic; in some embodiments,it is a transgene.

In another embodiment, the invention provides a method for preparing apolynucleotide encoding the herbicide tolerant ACCase polypeptide of aplant of ‘PVL03,’ or of progeny thereof, by obtaining biologicalmaterial from the plant or a seed thereof, and isolating from thematerial a nucleic acid, or a copy thereof, that has the coding sequencefor the herbicide-tolerant ACCase polypeptide. The isolation may involveone or more of, e.g., genomic DNA cloning, PCR amplification, reversetranscription, polynucleotide sequencing, or any other technique knownin the art as useful for such isolation. The copy of the nucleic acidcan be, e.g., a cDNA prepared from an mRNA of the plant biomaterial, aPCR amplified copy of genomic DNA of the plant biomaterial, or a de novosynthesized nucleic acid, prepared using sequence information obtainedfrom nucleic acid of the plant biomaterial.

In another embodiment, the invention provides a method for producing aherbicide-tolerant plant comprising transforming, into a plant tissue orcell, e.g., a rice tissue or cell, the herbicide-tolerantACCase-encoding polynucleotide isolated from a plant of ‘PVL03,’ or ofprogeny thereof, or a copy of said polynucleotide. Any transformationtechniques known in the art as useful therefor can be employed. Theresulting transformed tissue or cell can be regenerated to formplantlet(s) that can be grown to produce mature plant(s).

In another embodiment, the invention provides a method for preparing, inrice or another plant species, a gene-edited version of an ACCasepolynucleotide encoding the herbicide-tolerant ACCase polypeptide of aplant of ‘PVL03’ or of its homolog in another plant species, e.g., ofanother Poaceae species. This method comprises using the polynucleotideor amino sequence of an ACCase nucleic acid or polypeptide of a plant of‘PVL03.’ Oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis, mismatch-repairoligonucleotide treatment, CRISPR-Cas, or any other gene-editingtechnology known in the art can be used to produce a herbicide-tolerancesubstitution identical to (or homologous to) that present in theherbicide-tolerant plastidic ACCase of a plant of ‘PVL03,’ i.e.I1781(Am)L, based on sequence data obtained from a sample of biomaterialof a plant of ‘PVL03’ or of a progeny thereof, e.g., seed, leaf, orother biomaterial.

In another embodiment, the present invention provides a method forcontrolling weeds in the vicinity of rice. The method comprisescontacting the rice, and preferably weeds in the vicinity of the rice,with a herbicide, wherein said rice belongs to any of (a) variety‘PVL03’ or (b) a hybrid, derivative, or progeny of ‘PVL03’ thatexpresses the herbicide resistance characteristics of ‘PVL03.’

In some embodiments, the herbicide is an acetyl CoAcarboxylase-inhibiting herbicide. Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (“ACCase”) is abiotin-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the irreversible carboxylation ofacetyl-CoA to produce malonyl-CoA. Several ACCase-inhibiting herbicidesare known in the art, such as one or more of the aryloxyphenoxy (FOP)herbicides, one or more the cyclohexanedione (DIM) herbicides, orcombinations thereof.

In one embodiment, the rice is a rice plant, and said contactingcomprises applying the herbicide in the vicinity of the rice plant.

In another embodiment, the herbicide is applied to weeds in the vicinityof the rice plant.

In still further embodiments, the rice is rice seed, and said contactingcomprises applying the herbicide to the rice seed.

In some embodiments, the present invention provides a method fortreating rice. The method comprises contacting the rice with anagronomically acceptable composition, wherein said rice belongs to anyof (a) variety ‘PVL03’ or (b) a hybrid, derivative, or progeny of‘PVL03’ that expresses the ACCase herbicide resistance characteristicsof ‘PVL03.’

In one embodiment, the agronomically acceptable composition comprises atleast one agronomically acceptable active ingredient.

In another embodiment, the agronomically acceptable active ingredient isselected from the group consisting of fungicides, insecticides,antibiotics, stress tolerance-enhancing compounds, growth promoters,herbicides, molluscicides, rodenticides, animal repellants, andcombinations thereof.

In some embodiments, the present invention provides a progeny rice lineor variety obtainable from rice line ‘PVL03,’ a representative sample ofseeds of said line ‘PVL03’ having been deposited (as described ingreater detail below) under NCMA Accession No. 202009005.

In other embodiments, the present invention provides a method forcontrolling weeds in a field, said method comprising: growing a plantaccording to the present invention in a field; and contacting said plantand weeds in the field with an effective amount of an ACCase-inhibitingherbicide to which the plant is tolerant, thereby controlling weeds inthe field without adversely affecting the cultivated rice plant.

In some embodiments, improved rice plants and rice lines havingtolerance to at least one ACCase-inhibitor herbicide are provided. Insome embodiments, the ACCase-inhibitor herbicide is anaryloxyphenoxypropionate (FOP) herbicide, a cyclohexanedione (DIM)herbicide, a phenylpyrazoline (DEN) herbicides, an agronomicallyacceptable salt or ester of one of these, or a combination thereof.Examples of such herbicides include: DIMs, e.g., cycloxydim, sethoxydim,clethodim, or tepraloxydim; FOPS, e.g., clodinafop, diclofop, fluazifop,haloxyfop, or quizalofop; and DENs, e.g., pinoxaden, Preferred esters ofquizalofop or quizalofop-P include the ethyl and tefuryl esters; andpreferred esters of haloxyfop or haloxyfop-P include the methyl andetotyl esters.

The rice plants and rice lines of the present invention also provide forimproved systems and methods for controlling weeds using at least oneACCase-inhibitor herbicide.

Definitions

The following definitions apply throughout the specification and claims,unless context clearly indicates otherwise:

“Days to 50% heading.” Average number of days from seeding to the daywhen 50% of all panicles are exerted at least partially through the leafsheath. A measure of maturity.

“Grain Yield.” Grain yield is measured in pounds per acre, at 12.0%moisture. Grain yield depends on a number of factors, including thenumber of panicles per unit area, the number of fertile florets perpanicle, and grain weight per floret.

“Lodging Percent.” Lodging is a subjectively measured rating, and is thepercentage of plant stems leaning or fallen completely to the groundbefore harvest.

“Grain Length (L).” Length of a rice grain, or average length, measuredin millimeters.

“Grain Width (W).” Width of a rice grain, or average width, measured inmillimeters.

“Length/Width (L/W) Ratio.” This ratio is determined by dividing theaverage length (L) by the average width (W).

“1000 Grain Wt.” The weight of 1000 rice grains, measured in grams.

“Harvest Moisture.” The percentage moisture in the grain when harvested.

“Plant Height.” Plant height in centimeters, measured from soil surfaceto the tip of the extended panicle at harvest.

“Apparent Amylose Percent.” The percentage of the endosperm starch ofmilled rice that is amylose. The apparent amylose percent is animportant grain characteristic that affects cooking behavior. Standardlong grains contain 20 to 23 percent amylose. Rexmont-type long grainscontain 24 to 25 percent amylose. Short and medium grains contain 13 to19 percent amylose. Waxy rice contains zero percent amylose. Amylosevalues, like most characteristics of rice, depend on the environment.“Apparent” refers to the procedure for determining amylose, which mayalso involve measuring some long chain amylopectin molecules that bindto some of the amylose molecules. These amylopectin molecules actuallyact similar to amylose in determining the relative hard or soft cookingcharacteristics.

“Alkali Spreading Value.” An index that measures the extent ofdisintegration of the milled rice kernel when in contact with dilutealkali solution. It is an indicator of gelatinization temperature.Standard long grains have a 3 to 5 Alkali Spreading Value (intermediategelatinization temperature).

“Peak Viscosity.” The maximum viscosity attained during heating when astandardized, instrument-specific protocol is applied to a defined riceflour-water slurry.

“Trough Viscosity.” The minimum viscosity after the peak, normallyoccurring when the sample starts to cool.

“Final Viscosity.” Viscosity at the end of the test or cold paste.

“Breakdown.” The peak viscosity minus the hot paste viscosity.

“Setback.” Setback 1 is the final viscosity minus the trough viscosity.Setback 2 is the final viscosity minus the peak viscosity.

“RVA Viscosity.” Viscosity, as measured by a Rapid Visco Analyzer, awidely used laboratory instrument to examine the paste viscosity orthickening ability of milled rice during the cooking process.

“Hot Paste Viscosity.” Viscosity measure of rice flour/water slurryafter being heated to 95° C. Lower values indicate softer and stickiercooking types of rice.

“Cool Paste Viscosity.” Viscosity measure of rice flour/water slurryafter being heated to 95° C. and uniformly cooled to 50° C. Values lessthan 200 indicate softer cooking types of rice.

“Allele.” An allele is any of one or more alternate forms of the samegene. In a diploid cell or organism such as rice, the two alleles of agiven gene occupy corresponding loci on a pair of homologouschromosomes.

“Backcrossing.” Backcrossing is a process in which a breeder repeatedlycrosses hybrid progeny back to one of the parents, for example, crossinga first generation hybrid F₁ with one of the parental genotypes of theF₁ hybrid, and then crossing a second generation hybrid F₂ with the sameparental genotype, and so forth.

“Essentially all the physiological and morphological characteristics.” Aplant having “essentially all the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics” of a specified plant refers to a plant having the samegeneral physiological and morphological characteristics, except forthose characteristics that are derived from a particular converted gene.

“Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL).” Quantitative trait loci (QTL) refer togenetic loci that to some degree control numerically measurable traits,generally traits that are continuously distributed.

“Regeneration.” Regeneration refers to the development of a plant fromtissue culture.

“Single Gene Converted (Conversion).” Single gene converted (conversion)includes plants developed by backcrossing, wherein essentially all ofthe desired morphological and physiological characteristics of aparental variety are recovered, while also retaining a single gene thatis transferred into the plants via crossing and backcrossing. The termcan also refer to the introduction of a single gene through geneticengineering techniques known in the art.

No distinction is intended between “herbicide tolerance” and “herbicideresistance” (or similar terms). The two terms are used interchangeably,as are related terms such as “herbicide tolerant” and “herbicideresistant.”

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

‘PVL03’ is a long-grain, herbicide tolerant rice line with improvedgrain yield, grain quality, and resistance to blast disease. ‘PVL03’ isan early maturing, long-grain rice variety that is tolerant to ACCaseherbicides. For example, ‘PVL03’ is tolerant to Quizalofop-P-ethyl, thegeneric name for ethyl (R)-2-[4-(6-chloroquinoxalin-2-yl)oxy)phenoxy]propionate, which is sold under the tradename Provisia™herbicide. ‘PVL03’ has excellent milling potential. ‘PVL03’ wasdeveloped using a pedigree selection system at the Louisiana StateUniversity Agricultural Center's H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station(HRCRRS) in Crowley, Louisiana. ‘PVL03’ was selected from the crossPVL01/Catahoula, a cross that was made at the HRCRRS in 2016. ‘PVL01’ acommercially-available, herbicide-tolerant cultivar, released in 2016.‘Catahoula’ is a commercially-available, conventional(herbicide-susceptible) cultivar, released in 2008. Catahoula containsthe broad-spectrum blast resistance gene Pita. Earlier experimentaldesignations for the ‘PVL03’ line were designation LA2074 and RU2002074.

‘PVL01’ carries resistance to ACCase herbicides. ‘PVL01’ contains a genewith a mutagenized rice nucleic acid encoding a rice plastidic ACCaseenzyme. ‘PVL01’ contains an inherited, mutagenized rice plastidic ACCasegene in which a leucine amino acid residue is substituted for anisoleucine amino acid residue at position 1792 in the rice ACCase aminoacid sequence, a position that corresponds to amino acid position 1781of the plastidic ACCase of Alopecurus myosuroides. (The A. myosuroides(blackgrass) plastidic ACCase amino acid sequence is generally used inthe art to define the standard numbering of amino acid positions forplastidic ACCases in grasses.) In Poaceae (grasses) the plastidic ACCasea single-chain protein. The mutagenized plastidic ACCase is responsiblefor herbicide tolerance. The substitution in the mutant rice allele canbe described with the nomenclature I1781(Am)L, referring to thecorresponding position in A. myosuroides. Alternatively, thesubstitution could also be described with the nomenclature I1792(Os)L,referring to the position in of the substitution in Oryza sativa.

The novel plants comprise, as a result of direct inheritance andselection at each generation, the herbicide-tolerance trait from therice line ‘OsHPHI2,’ a representative sample of seed of which has beendeposited under the Budapest Treaty with the American Type CultureCollection under Accession No. PTA-10267. The production of rice line‘OsHPHI2’ is described in published international patent applicationWO2011/028832, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated byreference. A nuclear gene encodes the plastidic (chloroplast) ACCase.The rice plastidic ACCase is 2327 AA long (the blackgrass sequence is2320 AA long). WO2011/028832 discloses the sequence; the wild-typesequence is shown therein as sequence number three. The I1781(Am)Lmutation in the rice plastidic ACCase provides tolerance to a range ofACCase-inhibiting herbicides of varying chemical classes—for example,quizalofop, cycloxydim, and others described below.

The ‘PVL03’ line was developed from the bulk of a single F3 row (18P4291) made at the Lajas, Puerto Rico winter nursery in 2018. PVL03 wasevaluated under the designation of 183L2069 in 2018 in the Provisia“PVPR” Preliminary Yield Trial at the Louisiana State University RiceResearch Station (RRS), and in 2019 in the Regional Yield Trial acrossfour locations. In 2020, it was advanced into the Commercial Advanced(CA) and Cooperative Uniform Regional Rice Nurseries (URN) with thedesignation RU2002074.

In nine head-to-head comparisons with check varieties, the average yieldof ‘PVL03’ was 8,480 lb./A, compared to 7,019 for ‘PVL01,’ 7,297 for‘PVL02,’ 8,032 for ‘Cheniere,’ and 9,784 for ‘CL153.’ In six additionalProvisia yield trials, the average yield of ‘PVL03’ was 8,666 lb./A,compared to 6,851 for ‘PVL01’ and 8,466 for ‘PVL02.’ ‘PVL03’ averaged101 cm in height in yield tests across Louisiana, which is 2 cm tallerthan ‘PVL01’ and ‘CL153,’ 3 cm taller than ‘Cheniere,’ and 7 cm shorterthan ‘PVL02.’ ‘PVL03’ and ‘PVL02’ are both 81 days to 50% heading, whichis 10 days earlier than ‘PVL01’ and 2 days earlier than ‘Cheniere’ and‘CL153.’ The leaves, lemma, and palea of ‘PVL03’ are glabrous. Thespikelet is straw-colored, and the grain is non-aromatic.

‘PVL03’ has a typical long-grain cooking quality with intermediateamylose content and gelatinization temperature. ‘PVL03’ contains theBlast resistance gene Pita, which confers resistance to all documentedraces of Blast in Louisiana. It also contains the Cercospora resistancegene CRSP2.1, which confers broad-spectrum resistance to Cercospora.‘PVL03’ is susceptible to sheath blight and bacterial panicle blight.

‘PVL03’ is adapted for production throughout the southern United Statesrice production area, include Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas,and Missouri. It will also be suited for production in rice productionareas in other countries.

After the initial cross was made, the line was harvested and selectedthrough early generations for phenotypic superiority for characteristicssuch as short plant architecture, grain shape and uniformity, seedlingvigor, tiller number, and grain size. In later generations (during seedincrease), the line was selected for uniformity and purity both withinand between panicle rows. Variants removed from ‘PVL03’ seed-increasefields were primarily taller or earlier-maturing plants. Other variantsremoved included those with any one or more of the following: leafpubescence, awns, taller, shorter, later, earlier, short-, medium-, andintermediate-grain types, gold and black hull, and sterile panicle. Theoverall incidence of variants was less than 1 per 5,000 plants. ‘PVL03’has been observed to be stable for at least four generations (F4-F7).

TABLE A Origin and Breeding History PVL03 (experimental designationLA2074, or RU2002074) Pedigree-‘PVL01’/‘Catahoula’ Year Generation Test(Entry #) 2016 F0 16GHHB-7 2017 F1 17TA59a 2017 F2 17P2035-2067 (Lajas,Puerto Rico) 2017 F3 18P 4291 (Lajas, Puerto Rico) 2018 F4 18PVPR-0692019 F5 19RYT-122 2020 F6 20CA (007), 20URN (074), PV (003), PVRate (1,2, 3, 4) (All generations grown at the Louisiana State UniversityAgricultural Center Rice Research Station, Crowley, Louisiana, exceptwhere otherwise indicated)

VARIETY DESCRIPTION INFORMATION

Rice cultivar ‘PVL03’ was observed to possess the followingmorphological and other characteristics, based on averages of testsconducted at multiple locations over several growing seasons. Data forother varieties are shown for comparison:

Data Summary Table. Performance Number Trait PVL03 PVL01 PVL02 CHNRCL153 of Tests Reference Yield (lb./A) 8480 7019 7297 8032 9784 9 Tables1-2 CONV Tests Yield (lb./A) 8666 6851 8466 NA NA 6 Tables 1-2 PV TestsWhole (%) 62.8 56.3 58.6 63.3 62.2 4 Tables 3-4 Total (%) 71.1 67 71.171.5 69.9 4 Tables 5-6 Length-Milled (mm) 7.10 7.49 6.50 6.86 6.93 4Tables 17-18 Width-Milled (mm) 2.40 2.17 2.42 2.37 2.29 4 Tables 17-18L/W Ratio-Milled 2.97 3.45 2.69 2.90 3.03 4 Tables 17-18Thickness-Milled (mm) 1.60 1.63 1.54 1.56 1.63 1 1000 g Weight 19.5017.40 16.70 17.60 18.30 1 % Chalky Seeds 9.88 12.26 8.36 7.55 8.89 4Tables 14-15 Vigor 3 3 3 4 3 14/8 Tables 7-8 Height (cm) 101 99 108 9899 13/8 Tables 9-10 Days to 50% 81 91 81 83 83 8 Tables 11-12 Notes forall tables - where applicable: (1) Multiply by 1.121 to convert measuredvalues in lb./acre to kg/hectare. (2) For ratings where a 0-9 scale isused, 0 = very resistant/strong growth; 9 = very susceptible/poorgrowth.

TABLE 1 Average main crop yields (lb./A) for PVL03, PVL01, PVL02,Cheniere, and CL153 across several trials at multiple locations (2018and 2019). YEAR TEST PVL03 PVL01 PVL02 CHENIERE CL153 2018 PVPR 95618851 8507 N/A N/A 2019 RYT-RRS 9485 6828 8583 8695 9908 RYT-RRS SOUTH7536 5213 6275 6884 6875 RYT-IOWA 3945 3657 2933 3258 3169 RYT-ST JOE9705 9845 8207 9904 9822 2019 Average 7668 6386 6499 7185 7443 2018 and2019 Grand Average 8046 6879 6901 7185 7443

TABLE 2 Average main crop yields (lb./A) for PVL03, PVL01, PVL02,Cheniere, and CL153 across several trials at multiple locations (2020).YEAR TEST PVL03 PVL01 PVL02 CHENIERE CL153 2020 CA - RRS 10112 8985 84459904 10878 CA - RRS LATE 9093 7563 8469 9127 10586 CA - RRS SOUTH 73356489 8009 7380 8115 CA - EVANGELINE 9617 7230 6933 8114 9446 URN -LOUISIANA 9499 7364 7819 9021 9844 2020 CA/URN Average 9131 7526 79358709 9774 PV RATE-RRS 8768 5652 8932 N/A N/A PV RATE-RRS SOUTH 8574 64138533 N/A N/A 1X RATE PV RATE-RRS SOUTH 8429 6745 7788 N/A N/A 2X RATE PVRATE-RRS SOUTH 8329 6259 8292 N/A N/A 3X RATE PV RATE-RRS SOUTH 83357185 8745 N/A N/A CONTROL 2020 Provisia Average 8487 6451 8458 N/A N/A

TABLE 3 Whole rice yield (%) for PVL03, PVL01, PVL02, Cheniere, andCL153 across several trials at multiple locations (2018 and 2019). YEARTEST PVL03 PVL01 PVL02 CHENIERE CL153 2018 PVPR 62.8 62.0 65.2 N/A N/A2019 RYT-RRS 62.3 55.4 65.6 65.6 63.9 RYT-RRS SOUTH 60.6 49.5 53.6 61.458.0 2019 Average 61.5 52.4 59.6 63.5 60.9 2018 and 2019 Grand Average61.9 55.6 61.5 63.5 60.9

TABLE 4 Whole rice yield (%) for PVL03, PVL01, PVL02, Cheniere, andCL153 across several trials at multiple locations (2020). YEAR TESTPVL03 PVL01 PVL02 CHENIERE CL153 2020 CA - RRS 65.3 62.4 58.7 63.9 64.4URN - LOUISIANA 62.8 57.9 56.6 62.4 63.0 PV RATE-RRS 61.1 48.6 61.3 N/AN/A 2020 Average 63.1 56.3 58.9 63.2 63.7

TABLE 5 Total rice yield (%) for PVL03, PVL01, PVL02, Cheniere, andCL153 across several trials at multiple locations (2018 and 2019). YEARTEST PVL03 PVL01 PVL02 CHENIERE CL153 2018 PVPR 70.7 71.0 70.2 N/A N/A2019 RYT-RRS 71.3 68.4 71.8 71.8 70.7 RYT-RRS SOUTH 68.7 60.4 68.6 70.067.2 RYT-IOWA N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A RYT-ST JOE N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 2019Average 70.0 64.4 70.2 70.9 68.9 2018 and 2019 Grand Average 70.2 66.670.2 70.9 68.9

TABLE 6 Total rice yield (%) for PVL03, PVL01, PVL02, Cheniere, andCL153 across several trials at multiple locations (2020). YEAR TESTPVL03 PVL01 PVL02 CHENIERE CL153 2020 CA - RRS 72.9 70.3 72.0 72.4 71.2URN - LOUISIANA 71.6 68.8 71.8 71.8 70.3 PV RATE - RRS 71.5 66.8 72.1N/A N/A 2020 Average 72.0 68.7 72.0 72.1 70.7

TABLE 7 Seedling vigor for PVL03, PVL01, PVL02, Cheniere, and CL153across several trials at multiple locations (2018 and 2019). YEAR TESTPVL03 PVL01 PVL02 CHENIERE CL153 2018 PVPR 4 3 3 N/A N/A 2019 RYT-RRS 33 3 3 3 RYT-RRS SOUTH 2 2 2 3 3 RYT-IOWA 3 4 3 3 6 2019 Average 3 3 3 34 2018 and 2019 Grand Average 3 3 3 3 4

TABLE 8 Seedling vigor for PVL03, PVL01, PVL02, Cheniere, and CL153across several trials at multiple locations (2020). YEAR TEST PVL03PVL01 PVL02 CHENIERE CL153 2020 CA - RRS 3 2 2 3 3 CA - RRS LATE 4 3 3 43 CA - RRS SOUTH 3 3 3 3 3 CA - EVANGELINE 3 4 3 5 3 URN - LOUISIANA 3 33 3 3 PV RATE-RRS 2 2 2 N/A N/A PV RATE-RRS SOUTH 3 3 3 N/A N/A 1X RATEPV RATE-RRS SOUTH 3 3 3 N/A N/A 2X RATE PV RATE-RRS SOUTH 3 3 3 N/A N/A3X RATE PV RATE-RRS SOUTH 3 3 3 N/A N/A CONTROL 2020 Average 3 3 3 4 3

TABLE 9 Mean plant height (in) for PVL03, PVL01, PVL02, Cheniere, andCL153 across several trials at multiple locations (2018 and 2019). YEARTEST PVL03 PVL01 PVL02 CHENIERE CL153 2018 PVPR 89 88 98 N/A N/A 2019RYT-RRS 104 104 114 97 103 RYT-RRS SOUTH 106 91 110 93 110 RYT-IOWA 9797 106 96  93 2019 Average 102 97 110 95 102 2018 and 2019 Grand Average99 95 107 95 102

TABLE 10 Mean plant height (in) for PVL03, PVL01, PVL02, Cheniere, andCL153 across several trials at multiple locations (2020). YEAR TESTPVL03 PVL01 PVL02 CHENIERE CL153 2020 CA - RRS 95 100 107 91 94 CA - RRSLATE 110 103 117 103 105 CA - RRS SOUTH 99 97 104 95 96 CA - EVANGELINE113 105 114 113 105 URN - LOUISIANA 97 99 108 90 96 PV RATE-RRS N/A N/AN/A N/A N/A PV RATE-RRS SOUTH 99 95 107 N/A N/A 1X RATE PV RATE-RRSSOUTH 96 98 104 N/A N/A 2X RATE PV RATE-RRS SOUTH 99 96 106 N/A N/A 3XRATE PV RATE-RRS SOUTH 98 97 105 N/A N/A CONTROL 2020 Average 101 99 10898 99

TABLE 11 Mean number of days to 50% heading for PVL03, PVL01, PVL02,Cheniere, and CL153 across several trials at multiple locations (2018and 2019). YEAR TEST PVL03 PVL01 PVL02 CHENIERE CL153 2018 PVPR 70 72 7084 86 2019 RYT-RRS 80 93 84 84 86 RYT-RRS SOUTH 67 78 64 68 69 RYT-IOWA74 83 75 78 78 2019 Average 74 85 74 77 78 2018 and 2019 Grand Average73 81 73 77 78

TABLE 12 Mean number of days to 50% heading for PVL03, PVL01, PVL02,Cheniere, and CL153 across several trials at multiple locations (2020).YEAR TEST PVL03 PVL01 PVL02 CHENIERE CL153 2020 CA - RRS 95 107 94 96 97CA - RRS LATE 77 87 77 80 78 CA - RRS SOUTH 79 86 78 79 79 CA -EVANGELINE 80 88 78 84 81 URN - LOUISIANA 91 106 94 96 97 2020 CA/URNAverage 84 95 84 87 86 PV RATE-RRS 85 96 86 N/A N/A PV RATE-RRS SOUTH 7784 76 N/A N/A 1X RATE PV RATE-RRS SOUTH 77 84 76 N/A N/A 2X RATE PVRATE-RRS SOUTH 78 83 76 N/A N/A 3X RATE PV RATE-RRS SOUTH 76 83 76 N/AN/A CONTROL 2020 Provisia Average 79 86 78 N/A N/A

TABLE 13 Chalk values for PVL03, PVL01, PVL02, Cheniere, and CL153 in2018. % Chalk % Chalky Seeds Year Test Reps PVL03 PVL01 PVL02 CHNR CL153PVL03 PVL01 PVL02 CHNR CL153 2018 PVPR 1 10.40 5.10 6.06 N/A N/A 6.303.10 3.20 N/A N/A

TABLE 14 Chalk values for PVL03, PVL01, PVL02, Cheniere, and CL153 in2019. % Chalk % Chalky Seeds Year Test Reps PVL03 PVL01 PVL02 CHNR CL153PVL03 PVL01 PVL02 CHNR CL153 2019 RYT-RRS 1 11.91 6.14 15.60 11.98 13.109.10 3.60 10.80 8.80 8.10 RYT-RRS 1 6.00 8.82 2.28 3.37 7.89 5.30 7.801.30 2.40 3.60 SOUTH 2019 Average 8.96 7.48 8.94 7.68 10.50 7.20 5.706.05 5.60 5.85

TABLE 15 Chalk values for PVL03, PVL01, PVL02, Cheniere and CL153 in2020 % Chalk % Chalky Seeds Year Test Reps PVL03 PVL01 PVL02 CHNR CL153PVL03 PVL01 PVL02 CHNR CL153 2020 CA-RRS 1 15.68 16.11 15.06 12.97 20.6610.80 12.90 12.00 9.20 11.75 URN-RRS 1 17.65 24.81 10.23 10.86 18.0214.30 24.75 9.35 9.80 12.10 PV 1 16.09 11.23 11.18 N/A N/A 12.63 9.306.97 N/A N/A RATE-RRS 2020 Average 16.47 17.38 12.16 11.92 19.34 12.5815.65 9.44 9.50 11.93

TABLE 16 Average grain measurements for PVL03, PVL01, PVL02, Cheniere,and CL153 in 2018. LENGTH WIDTH L/W TEST VARIETY (mm) (mm) RATIO PVPRPVL03 7.21 2.32 3.11 PVL01 7.46 2.15 3.47 PVL02 6.58 2.29 2.87 CheniereN/A N/A N/A CL153 N/A N/A N/A

TABLE 17 Average grain measurements for PVL03, PVL01, PVL02, Cheniere,and CL153 in 2019. LENGTH WIDTH L/W TEST VARIETY (mm) (mm) RATIO RYT-RRSPVL03 7.17 2.37 3.03 PVL01 7.59 2.17 3.50 PVL02 6.56 2.40 2.73 Cheniere6.95 2.37 2.93 CL153 7.02 2.29 3.07 RYT-RRS PVL03 7.17 2.41 2.97 SOUTHPVL01 7.59 2.21 3.43 PVL02 6.56 2.38 2.76 Cheniere 6.95 2.32 3.00 CL1537.02 2.22 3.16

TABLE 18 Average grain measurements for PVL03, PVL01, PVL02, Cheniere,and CL153 in 2020. LENGTH WIDTH L/W TEST VARIETY (mm) (mm) RATIO CA-RRSPVL03 7.09 2.43 2.92 PVL01 7.41 2.16 3.44 PVL02 6.47 2.46 2.63 Cheniere6.77 2.38 2.84 CL153 6.86 2.31 2.98 URN-RRS PVL03 6.99 2.38 2.94 PVL017.39 2.16 3.43 PVL02 6.41 2.44 2.63 Cheniere 6.79 2.42 2.81 CL153 6.832.33 2.93 PV RATE-RRS PVL03 7.11 2.34 3.04 PVL01 7.49 2.11 3.55 PVL026.48 2.41 2.69 Cheniere N/A N/A N/A CL153 N/A N/A N/A

TABLE 19 2020 RRS foundation field yields. YIELD LINE (lb./A) ACRESPVL03 4,500 0.75 Breeder/Foundation Seed of PVL03: ~42 cwt

This invention is also directed to methods for producing a rice plant bycrossing a first parent rice plant with a second parent rice plant toproduce an F₁ hybrid, wherein the first or second rice plant (i.e., themale parent or the female parent) is a rice plant from the line ‘PVL03.’The F₁ hybrid preferably displays the herbicide tolerance phenotype of‘PVL03.’ Further, both the first and second parent rice plants may befrom the cultivar ‘PVL03.’ Breeding methods that employ the cultivar‘PVL03’ are also part of this invention, including crossing, selfing,backcrossing, hybrid breeding, crossing to populations, the otherbreeding methods discussed in this specification, and other breedingmethods otherwise known to those of skill in the art. Any plantsproduced using cultivar ‘PVL03’ as a parent or ancestor by any of thesebreeding methods are within the scope of this invention, particularlywhen those plants display the herbicide tolerance phenotype of ‘PVL03.’The other parents or other lines used in such breeding programs may beany of the wide number of rice varieties, cultivars, populations,experimental lines, and other sources of rice germplasm known to theart.

For example, this invention includes methods for producing afirst-generation hybrid rice plant by crossing a first parent rice plantwith a second parent rice plant, wherein either the first or secondparent rice plant (i.e., either the male parent or the female parent) is‘PVL03.’ Further, this invention is also directed to methods forproducing a hybrid rice line derived from ‘PVL03’ by crossing ‘PVL03’with a second rice plant, and growing the F₁ progeny seed. The crossingand growing steps may be repeated any number of times. Breeding methodsusing the rice line ‘PVL03’ are considered part of this invention, notonly backcrossing and hybrid production, but also selfing, crosses topopulations, and other breeding methods known in the art. It ispreferred that, at each step in the breeding process, there should beselection to maintain the herbicide tolerance trait.

Optionally, either of the parents in such a cross, ‘PVL03’ or the otherparent, may be produced in male-sterile form, using techniques otherwiseknown in the art.

In one embodiment, a rice plant (inbred or hybrid) produced usingcultivar ‘PVL03’ as a parent or ancestor exhibits tolerance toapplications of one or more herbicides or classes ofherbicides—including at least the ACCase herbicide tolerance phenotypeinherent in ‘PVL03,’ and optionally incorporating one or more additionalherbicide tolerance traits as well. The optional, additionalherbicide-tolerance trait may be selected from those otherwise known inthe art, including those providing tolerance to: acetohydroxyacidsynthase (AHAS) inhibitors; bleaching herbicides such as a4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD) inhibitors or phytoenedesaturase (PDS) inhibitors; 5-enolpyruvyl shikimate 3-phosphatesynthase (EPSPS) inhibitors such as glyphosate; glutamine synthetase(GS) inhibitors such as glufosinate or bialaphos; auxinic herbicides(e.g., an auxin or auxin mimic, an auxin binding protein inhibitor, orauxin transport inhibitor), e.g., dicamba; lipid biosynthesis inhibitorssuch as ACCase inhibitors; or oxynil (i.e. bromoxynil or ioxynil)herbicides; protoporphyrinogen-IX oxidase (PPO) inhibitors (e.g.,acifluorfen, butafenacil, carfentrazone, pyraflufen (e.g., aspyraflufen-ethyl), saflufenacil, trifludimoxazin, flufenpyr-ethyl,fomesafen, flumiclorac, flumioxazin, lactofen, oxadiargyl, oxadiazon,oxyfluorfen, sulfentrazone); lipid biosynthesis inhibitors such asacetyl CoA carboxylase (ACCase) inhibitors; oxynil (i.e. bromoxynil orioxynil) herbicides; p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (4-HPPD)inhibitors; amide(s), e.g., propanil; and the like. Examples ofAHAS-inhibitor herbicides include, e.g., imidazolinones, sulfonylureas,triazolopyrimidines, pyrimidinyl(thio)benzoates (includingpyrimidinyl(oxy)benzoates), sulfonylaminocarbonyltriazolinones,agronomically acceptable salts and esters thereof, and combinationsthereof. Examples of ACCase inhibitor herbicides include, e.g., “dims”(e.g., cycloxydim, sethoxydim, clethodim, or tepraloxydim), “fops”(e.g., clodinafop, diclofop, fluazifop, haloxyfop, or quizalofop), and“dens” (such as pinoxaden). Examples of HPPD inhibitors includemesotrione, benzobicyclon, topramezone, tembotrione, and isoxaflutole.Examples of auxinic herbicides include: aminopyralid, dicamba,2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic (2,4-D), clopyralid, fluroxypyr, triclopyr orpicloram. In addition to dicamba itself, examples of useful dicambaforms include the methyl ester, dimethylamine salt (DMA), diglycoaminesalt (DGA), isopropylamine salt (IPA), potassium salt, and sodium salt.In addition to 2,4-D itself, examples of useful 2,4-D forms include the2-ethylhexyl ester, the iso-octyl ester, the choline salt, the ammoniumsalt, and the alkylamine salts and alkanolamine salts (specific examplesof the latter two including salts with triethylamine (TEA),dimethylamine (DMA), diethylamine, diethanolamine, et al.)

In some embodiments rice plants that are produced using cultivar ‘PVL03’as a parent or ancestor may be tolerant to ACCase inhibitors, such asthe “dims” (e.g., cycloxydim, sethoxydim, clethodim, or tepraloxydim),the “fops” (e.g., clodinafop, diclofop, fluazifop, haloxyfop, orquizalofop), and the “dens” (such as pinoxaden); to auxinic herbicides,such as dicamba; to EPSPS inhibitors, such as glyphosate; to other PPOinhibitors; and to GS inhibitors, such as glufosinate.

In addition to these classes of inhibitors, rice plants that areproduced using cultivar ‘PVL03’ as a parent or ancestor may also betolerant to herbicides having other modes of action, for example,chlorophyll/carotenoid pigment inhibitors, cell membrane disruptors,photosynthesis inhibitors, cell division inhibitors, root inhibitors,shoot inhibitors, and combinations thereof.

Such tolerance traits may be expressed, e.g., as mutant acetohydroxyacidsynthase large subunit (AHASL) proteins, mutant ACCase proteins, mutantEPSPS proteins, or mutant glutamine synthetase proteins; or as a mutantnative, inbred, or transgenic aryloxyalkanoate dioxygenase (AAD or DHT),haloarylnitrilase (BXN), 2,2-dichloropropionic acid dehalogenase (DEH),glyphosate-N-acetyltransferase (GAT), glyphosate decarboxylase (GDC),glyphosate oxidoreductase (GOX), glutathione-S-transferase (GST),phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (PAT or bar), or cytochrome P450(CYP450) protein having herbicide-degrading activity.

The rice plants hereof can also optionally be “stacked” with othertraits including, but not limited to, pesticidal traits such as Bt Cryand other proteins having pesticidal activity toward coleopteran,lepidopteran, nematode, or other pests; nutritional or nutraceuticaltraits such as modified oil content or oil profile traits, high proteinor high amino acid concentration traits, and other trait types known inthe art.

Furthermore, in another embodiment, rice plants are generated, e.g. bythe use of recombinant DNA techniques, breeding, or otherwise byselection for desired traits, plants that are able to synthesize one ormore proteins to improve their productivity, oil content, tolerance todrought, salinity or other growth-limiting environmental factors, ortolerance to arthropod, fungal, bacterial, or viral pests or pathogensof rice plants.

Furthermore, in other embodiments, rice plants are generated, e.g. bythe use of recombinant DNA techniques, breeding, or otherwise byselection for desired traits to contain a modified amount of one or moresubstances or to contain one or more new substances, for example, toimprove human or animal nutrition, e.g. health-promoting long-chainomega-3 fatty acids or unsaturated omega-9 fatty acids. (Cf. Nexera®canola, Dow Agro Sciences, Canada).

Furthermore, in some embodiments, rice plants are generated, e.g. by theuse of recombinant DNA techniques, breeding, or otherwise by selectionfor desired traits to contain increased amounts of vitamins, minerals,or improved profiles of nutraceutical compounds.

In one embodiment, rice plants are produced using cultivar ‘PVL03’ as aparent or higher-generation ancestor so that the new rice plants,relative to a wild-type rice plant, comprise an increased amount of, oran improved profile of, a compound selected from the group consistingof: glucosinolates (e.g., glucoraphanin (4-methylsulfinylbutyl-glucosinolate), sulforaphane,3-indolylmethyl-glucosinolate (glucobrassicin), or1-methoxy-3-indolylmethyl-glucosinolate (neoglucobrassicin)); phenolics(e.g., flavonoids (e.g., quercetin, kaempferol), hydroxycinnamoylderivatives (e.g., 1,2,2′-trisinapoylgentiobiose,1,2-diferuloylgentiobiose, 1,2′-disinapoyl-2-feruloylgentiobiose, or3-O-caffeoyl-quinic (neochlorogenic acid)); and vitamins and minerals(e.g., vitamin C, vitamin E, carotene, folic acid, niacin, riboflavin,thiamine, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, selenium, and zinc).

In another embodiment, rice plants are produced using cultivar ‘PVL03’as a parent or higher-generation ancestor so that the new rice plants,relative to a wild-type rice plant, comprise an increased amount of, oran improved profile of, a compound selected from the group consistingof: progoitrin; isothiocyanates; indoles (products of glucosinolatehydrolysis); glutathione; carotenoids such as beta-carotene, lycopene,and the xanthophyll carotenoids such as lutein and zeaxanthin; phenolicscomprising the flavonoids such as the flavonols (e.g. quercetin, rutin),the flavins/tannins (such as the procyanidins comprising coumarin,proanthocyanidins, catechins, and anthocyanins); flavones;phytoestrogens such as coumestans; lignans; resveratrol; isoflavonese.g. genistein, daidzein, and glycitein; resorcyclic acid lactones;organosulfur compounds; phytosterols; terpenoids such as carnosol,rosmarinic acid, glycyrrhizin and saponins; chlorophyll; chlorphyllin,sugars, anthocyanins, and vanilla.

Herbicides

Herbicidal compositions that may be used in conjunction with theinvention include herbicidally active ingredients (A.I.), and theiragronomically acceptable salts and esters.

The herbicidal compositions can be applied in any agronomicallyacceptable format. For example, they can be formulated as ready-to-sprayaqueous solutions, powders, or suspensions; as concentrated or highlyconcentrated aqueous, oily, or other solutions, suspensions, ordispersions; as emulsions, oil dispersions, pastes, dusts, granules, orother broadcastable formats. The herbicidal compositions can be appliedby any method known in the art, including, for example, spraying,atomizing, dusting, spreading, watering, seed treatment, or co-plantingin admixture with the seed. The particular formulation used depends onthe intended purpose; in any case, it should ensure a uniform (orapproximately uniform) distribution of the A.I. or A.I.s. A herbicidalcomposition can be selected according to the tolerances of a particularplant, and the plant can be selected from among those having a singletolerance trait, or stacked tolerance traits.

In some embodiments, where the A.I. includes an AHAS inhibitor, the AHASinhibitor may be selected from: (1) the imidazolinones, e.g. imazamox,imazethapyr, imazapyr, imazapic, imazaquin, and imazamethabenz;preferably imazamox, imazethapyr, imazapyr, or imazapic; (2) thesulfonylureas, e.g. amidosulfuron, azimsulfuron, bensulfuron,cinosulfuron, ethoxysulfuron, flupyrsulfuron, foramsulfuron,imazosulfuron, iodosulfuron, mesosulfuron, metsulfuron, nicosulfuron,thifensulfuron, and tribenuron; (3) the pyrimidinyloxy[thio]benzoates,e.g. including the pyrimidinyloxybenzoates (e.g., bispyribac,pyriminobac, and pyribenzoxim) and the pyrimidinylthiobenzoates (e.g.,pyrithiobac and pyriftalid); and (4) the sulfonamides, e.g. includingthe sulfonylaminocarbonyltriazolinones (e.g., flucarbazone andpropoxycarbazone) and the triazolopyrimidines (e.g., cloransulam,diclosulam, florasulam, flumetsulam, metosulam, and penoxsulam). Theagronomically acceptable salts and esters of the foregoing are alsoincluded, as are combinations thereof.

In embodiments in which the A.I. includes an ACCase inhibitor, theACCase inhibitor may for example be selected from:aryloxyphenoxypropionate (FOP) herbicides, cyclohexanedione (DIM)herbicides, and phenylpyrazoline (DEN) herbicides, and theiragronomically acceptable salts and esters. Examples include: the DIMs,e.g., cycloxydim, sethoxydim, clethodim, or tepraloxydim; the FOPs,e.g., clodinafop, diclofop, fluazifop, haloxyfop, or quizalofop; and theDENs, e.g., pinoxaden, Preferred esters of quizalofop or quizalofop-Pinclude the ethyl and tefuryl esters; and preferred esters of haloxyfopor haloxyfop-P include the methyl and etotyl esters. The agronomicallyacceptable salts and esters of the foregoing are also included, as arecombinations thereof.

Examples of herbicides that are ACCase inhibitors include, but are notlimited to, cyclohexanedione herbicides (DIMs, also referred to as:cyclohexene oxime cyclohexanedione oxime; and CHD), aryloxyphenoxypropionate herbicides (also referred to as aryloxyphenoxy propanoate;aryloxyphenoxyalkanoate; oxyphenoxy; APP; AOPP; APA; APPA; FOP), andphenylpyrazole herbicides (also known as DENs; and sometimes referred tounder the more general class of phenylpyrazoles such as pinoxaden (e.g.,herbicides sold under the trade names Axial and Traxos)). In somemethods of controlling weeds or growing herbicide-tolerant plants, atleast one herbicide is selected from the group consisting of sethoxydim,cycloxydim, tepraloxydim, haloxyfop, haloxyfop-P or a derivative of oneof these herbicides. Table C lists examples of herbicides that interferewith ACCase activity.

TABLE C Examples of ACCase inhibitors. ACCase Inhibitor Class CompanyExamples of Synonyms and Trade Names alloxydim DIM BASF Fervin,Kusagard, NP-48Na, BAS 9021H, Carbodimedon, Zizalon butroxydim DIMSyngenta Falcon, ICI-A0500, Butroxydim clethodim DIM Valent Select,Prism, Centurion, RE-45601, Motsa Clodinafop-propargyl FOP SyngentaDiscover, Topik, CGA 184 927 clofop FOP Fenofibric Acid, Alopexcloproxydim FOP chlorazifop FOP cycloxydim DIM BASF Focus, Laser,Stratos, BAS 517H cyhalofop-butyl FOP Dow Clincher, XDE 537, DEH 112,Barnstorm diclofop-methyl FOP Bayer Hoegrass, Hoelon, Illoxan, HOE23408, Dichlorfop, Illoxan fenoxaprop-P-ethyl FOP Bayer Super Whip,Option Super, Exel Super, HOE-46360, Aclaim, Puma S, Fusion fenthiapropFOP Taifun; Joker fluazifop-P-butyl FOP Syngenta Fusilade, Fusilade2000, Fusilade DX, ICI-A 0009, ICI-A 0005, SL-236, IH-773B, TF-1169,Fusion haloxyfop-etotyl FOP Dow Gallant, DOWCO 453EE haloxyfop-methylFOP Dow Verdict, DOWCO 453ME haloxyfop-P-methyl FOP Dow Edge, DE 535isoxapyrifop FOP Metamifop FOP Dongbu NA pinoxaden DEN Syngenta Axialprofoxydim DIM BASF Aura, Tetris, BAS 625H, Clefoxydim propaquizafop FOPSyngenta Agil, Shogun, Ro 17-3664, Correct quizalofop-P-ethyl FOP DuPontAssure, Assure II, DPX-Y6202-3, Targa Super, NC-302, Quizafopquizalofop-P-tefuryl FOP Uniroyal Pantera, UBI C4874 sethoxydim DIM BASFPoast, Poast Plus, NABU, Fervinal, NP-55, Sertin, BAS 562H, Cyethoxydim,Rezult tepraloxydim DIM BASF BAS 620H, Aramo, Caloxydim tralkoxydim DIMSyngenta Achieve, Splendor, ICI-A0604, Tralkoxydime, Tralkoxidym trifopFOPExamples of herbicides that are auxinic herbicides include, but are notlimited to, those shown in Table D.

TABLE D Examples of Auxinic herbicides. Classification of AuxinicHerbicides (HRAC Group ‘O’; WSSA Group ‘4’) Subgroup Member CompoundPhenoxy- Clomeprop carboxylic- cloprop (“3-CPA”) acid Subgroup4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (“4-CPA”) 2-(4-chlorophenoxy)propionic acid(“4-CPP”) 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (“2,4-D”)(3,4-dichlorophenoxy)acetic acid (“3,4-DA”)4-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)butyric acid (“2,4-DB”)2-(3,4-dichlorophenoxy)propionic acid (“3,4-DP”)tris[2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)ethyl]phosphite (“2,4-DEP”) dichlorprop(“2,4-DP”) 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (“2,4,5-T”) fenoprop(“2,4,5-TP”) 2-(4-chloro-2-methylphenoxy)acetic acid (“MCPA”)4-(4-chloro-2-methylphenoxy)butyric acid (“MCPB”) mecoprop (“MCPP”)Benzoic acid Chloramben Subgroup Dicamba Tricamba 2,3,6-trichlorobenzoicacid (“TBA”) Pyridine Aminopyralid carboxylic Clopyralid acid SubgroupFluroxypyr Picloram Triclopyr Quinoline Quinclorac carboxylic Quinmeracacid Subgroup Other Benazolin Subgroup

Optional A.I.s of other types include, but are not limited toagronomically-acceptable fungicides such as strobilurins, e.g.,pyraclostrobin, alone or in combination with, e.g., boscalid,epiconazole, metaconazole, tebuconazole, kresoxim-methyl, and the like;insecticides, nematicides, lepidoptericides, coleoptericides, ormolluscicides (e.g., malathion, pyrethrins/pyrethrum, carbaryl,spinosad, permethrin, bifenthrin, and esfenvalerate).

In one embodiment, a saflufenacil A.I. is, e.g.:2-chloro-5-[3,6-dihydro-3-methyl-2,6-dioxo-4-(trifluoromethyl)-1-(2H)-pyrimidinyl]-4-fluoro-N-[[methyl(1-methylethyl)amino]sulfonyl]benzamide (CAS:N′-{2-chloro-4-fluoro-5-[1,2,3,6-tetrahydro-3-methyl-2,6-dioxo-4-(trifluoromethyl)pyrimidin-1-yl]benzoyl}-N-isopropyl-N-methylsulfamide;Reg. No.: 372137-35-4); BAS-H800).

As used herein, unless context clearly indicates others, a reference toa named compound, (e.g., “saflufenacil”) should be understood to includenot only the specified compound itself, but also the compound's varioussalts and esters.

The herbicidal compositions can also comprise auxiliary ingredients thatare customary for the formulation of crop protection agents. Examples ofauxiliaries customary for the formulation of crop protection agentsinclude inert auxiliaries, solid carriers, surfactants (such asdispersants, protective colloids, emulsifiers, wetting agents, andtackifiers), organic and inorganic thickeners, penetrants (such aspenetration-enhancing organosilicone surfactants or acidic sulfatechelates, e.g., CT-301™ available from Cheltec, Inc.), safeners,bactericides, antifreeze agents, antifoams, colorants, and adhesives.Formulations of the herbicide compositions useful herein can be preparedaccording to any method useful for that purpose in the art.

Examples of thickeners (i.e. compounds that modify flow properties, e.g.high viscosity in a state of rest and low viscosity in motion) includepolysaccharides, such as xanthan gum (Kelzan® from Kelco), Rhodopol® 23(Rhone Poulenc) or Veegum® (from R. T. Vanderbilt), and also variousorganic and inorganic sheet minerals, such as Attaclay® (fromEngelhard).

Examples of antifoaming agents include silicone emulsions (for example,Silikon® SRE, Wacker or Rhodorsil® from Rhodia), long-chain alcohols,fatty acids, salts of fatty acids, organofluorine compounds, andmixtures thereof.

Bactericides can optionally be added for stabilizing the aqueousherbicidal formulations. Examples include bactericides based ondiclorophen and benzyl alcohol hemiformal (Proxel® from ICI, Acticide®RS from Thor Chemie, or Kathon® MK from Rohm & Haas), or isothiazolinonederivatives, such as alkylisothiazolinones and benzisothiazolinones(Acticide MBS from Thor Chemie).

Examples of antifreeze agents include ethylene glycol, propylene glycol,urea, and glycerol.

Examples of colorants include members of colorant classes such as thesparingly water-soluble pigments and the water-soluble dyes. Someexamples include the dyes known under the names Rhodamin B, C.I. PigmentRed 112, C.I. Solvent Red 1, pigment blue 15:4, pigment blue 15:3,pigment blue 15:2, pigment blue 15:1, pigment blue 80, pigment yellow 1,pigment yellow 13, pigment red 112, pigment red 48:2, pigment red 48:1,pigment red 57:1, pigment red 53:1, pigment orange 43, pigment orange34, pigment orange 5, pigment green 36, pigment green 7, pigment white6, pigment brown 25, basic violet 10, basic violet 49, acid red 51, acidred 52, acid red 14, acid blue 9, acid yellow 23, basic red 10, andbasic red 108.

Examples of adhesives include polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyvinyl acetate,polyvinyl alcohol, and tylose.

Suitable inert auxiliaries include, for example, the following: mineraloil fractions of medium to high boiling point, such as kerosene anddiesel oil; coal tar oils; oils of vegetable or animal origin;aliphatic, cyclic and aromatic hydrocarbons, for example paraffins,tetrahydronaphthalene, alkylated naphthalenes and their derivatives, andalkylated benzenes and their derivatives; alcohols such as methanol,ethanol, propanol, butanol and cyclohexanol; ketones such ascyclohexanone; strongly polar solvents, for example amines such asN-methylpyrrolidone; and water; as well as mixtures thereof.

Suitable carriers include liquid and solid carriers.

Liquid carriers include e.g. non-aqueous solvents such as cyclic andaromatic hydrocarbons, e.g. paraffins, tetrahydronaphthalene, alkylatednaphthalenes and their derivatives, and alkylated benzenes and theirderivatives; alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol andcyclohexanol; ketones such as cyclohexanone; strongly polar solvents,e.g. amines such as N-methylpyrrolidone; and water; as well as mixturesthereof.

Solid carriers include e.g. mineral earths such as silicas, silica gels,silicates, talc, kaolin, limestone, lime, chalk, bole, loess, clay,dolomite, diatomaceous earth, calcium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, andmagnesium oxide; ground synthetic materials; fertilizers such asammonium sulfate, ammonium phosphate, ammonium nitrate, and ureas; andproducts of vegetable origin, such as cereal meal, tree bark meal, woodmeal, nutshell meal, and cellulose powders; and mixtures thereof.

Suitable surfactants (e.g., adjuvants, wetting agents, tackifiers,dispersants, or emulsifiers) include the alkali metal salts, alkalineearth metal salts, and ammonium salts of aromatic sulfonic acids, forexample lignosulfonic acids (e.g. Borrespers-types, Borregaard),phenolsulfonic acids, naphthalenesulfonic acids (Morwet types, AkzoNobel) and dibutylnaphthalenesulfonic acid (Nekal types, BASF AG); andsalts of fatty acids, alkyl- and alkylarylsulfonates, alkyl sulfates,lauryl ether sulfates and fatty alcohol sulfates; and salts of sulfatedhexa-, hepta- and octadecanols; fatty alcohol glycol ethers, condensatesof sulfonated naphthalene and its derivatives with formaldehyde,condensates of naphthalene or of the naphthalenesulfonic acids withphenol and formaldehyde, polyoxyethylene octylphenol ether, ethoxylatedisooctyl-, octyl- or nonylphenol, alkylphenyl or tributylphenylpolyglycol ether, alkylaryl polyether alcohols, isotridecyl alcohol,fatty alcohol/ethylene oxide condensates, ethoxylated castor oil,polyoxyethylene alkyl ethers or polyoxypropylene alkyl ethers, laurylalcohol polyglycol ether acetate, sorbitol esters; lignosulfite wasteliquors; and proteins, denatured proteins, polysaccharides (e.g.methylcellulose), hydrophobically modified starches, polyvinyl alcohol(Mowiol types, Clariant), polycarboxylates (BASF AG, Sokalan types),polyalkoxylates, polyvinylamine (BASF AG, Lupamine types),polyethyleneimine (BASF AG, Lupasol types), polyvinylpyrrolidone, andcopolymers thereof; and mixtures thereof.

Powders, materials for broadcasting and dusts can be prepared by mixingor concomitant grinding of the A.I.s together with a solid carrier.

Granules, for example coated granules, impregnated granules, andhomogeneous granules, can be prepared by binding the A.I.s to solidcarriers.

Aqueous-use forms can be prepared from emulsion concentrates,suspensions, pastes, wettable powders, or water-dispersible granules byadding water.

To prepare emulsions, pastes, or oil dispersions, the herbicidalcompositions can be homogenized in water by means of a wetting agent,tackifier, dispersant or emulsifier. Alternatively, it is also possibleto prepare concentrates comprising active compound, wetting agent,tackifier, dispersant or emulsifier and, if desired, solvent or oil,preferably suitable for dilution or dispersion with water.

The concentration of the herbicide(s) present in the herbicidalcomposition can be varied within wide ranges. In general, theformulations comprise approximately from 0.001% to 98% by weight,preferably 0.01 to 95% by weight of at least one active ingredient. Insome embodiments, the A.I.s are employed in a purity of from 90% to100%, preferably 95% to 100% (as measured, e.g., by NMR or IR spectra).

In some formulations, the herbicides are suspended, emulsified, ordissolved. The formulations may be in the form of aqueous solutions,powders, suspensions, or highly-concentrated aqueous, oily, or othersuspensions or dispersions, aqueous emulsions, aqueous microemulsions,aqueous suspo-emulsions, oil dispersions, pastes, dusts, materials forspreading, or granules.

Herbicides or herbicidal compositions can be applied pre-emergence,post-emergence, or pre-planting, or together with the seed. It is alsopossible to apply the herbicidal composition or active compounds byplanting seed pretreated with the herbicidal compositions or activecompounds.

In a further embodiment, the herbicides or herbicidal compositions canbe applied by treating seed. The treatment of seeds comprises any of theprocedures known in the art (e.g., seed dressing, seed coating, seeddusting, seed soaking, seed film coating, seed multilayer coating, seedencrusting, seed dripping, and seed pelleting). The herbicidalcompositions can be applied diluted or undiluted.

It may be beneficial in some embodiments to apply the herbicides aloneor in combination with other herbicides, or in the form of a mixturewith other crop protection agents, for example together with agents forcontrolling pests or phytopathogenic fungi or bacteria. Also of interestis miscibility with mineral salt solutions, which are employed fortreating nutritional and trace element deficiencies. Other additivessuch as non-phytotoxic oils and oil concentrates can also be added.

Moreover, it may be useful to apply the herbicides in combination withsafeners. Safeners are compounds that prevent or reduceherbicide-induced injury to useful plants without having a major effecton the intended herbicidal action of the herbicides. They can be appliedeither before sowing (e.g. on seed treatments, shoots, or seedlings) orin the pre-emergence application or post-emergence application of thecrop plant. The safeners and the herbicides can be appliedsimultaneously or in succession.

Safeners include e.g. (quinolin-8-oxy)acetic acids,1-phenyl-5-haloalkyl-1H-1,2,4-triazol-3-carboxylic acids,1-phenyl-4,5-dihydro-5-alkyl-1H-pyrazol-3,5-dicarboxylic acids,4,5-dihydro-5,5-diaryl-3-isoxazol carboxylic acids, dichloroacetamides,alpha-oximinophenylacetonitriles, acetophenonoximes,4,6-dihalo-2-phenylpyrimidines,N-[[4-(aminocarbonyl)phenyl]sulfonyl]-2-benzoic amides, 1,8-naphthalicanhydride, 2-halo-4-(haloalkyl)-5-thiazol carboxylic acids, benoxacor,cloquintocet, cyometrinil, cyprosulfamide, dichlormid, dicyclonon,dietholate, fenchlorazole, fenclorim, flurazole, fluxofenim, furilazole,isoxadifen, mefenpyr, mephenate, naphthalic anhydride, oxabetrinil,4-(dichloroacetyl)-1-oxa-4-azaspiro[4.5]decane (MON4660, CAS 71526-07-3)and 2,2,5-trimethyl-3-(dichloroacetyl)-1,3-oxazolidine (R-29148, CAS52836-31-4), phosphorthiolates, and N-alkyl-O-phenyl-carbamates andtheir agriculturally-acceptable salts and theiragriculturally-acceptable derivatives such amides, esters, andthioesters.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that some compounds used asherbicides, safeners, etc. are capable of forming geometric isomers, forexample E/Z isomers, enantiomers, diastereomers, or other stereoisomers.In general, it is possible to use either pure isomers or mixtures ofisomers. For example, some of the aryloxyphenoxy propionate herbicidesare chiral, and some of them are commonly used in enantiomericallyenriched or enantiopure form, e.g. clodinafop, cyhalofop, fenoxaprop-P,fluazifop-P, haloxyfop-P, metamifop, propaquizafop or quizalofop-P. As afurther example, glufosinate may be used in enantiomerically enriched orenantiopure form, also known as glufosinate-P. Alternatively, thecompounds may be used in racemic mixtures or other mixtures of geometricisomers.

Controlling Weeds

Rice plants of the invention can be used in conjunction withherbicide(s) to which they are tolerant. Herbicides can be applied tothe rice plants of the invention using any techniques known to thoseskilled in the art. Herbicides can be applied at any point in the riceplant cultivation process. For example, herbicides can be appliedpre-planting, at planting, pre-emergence, post-emergence, orcombinations thereof. Herbicides may be applied to seeds and dried toform a layer on the seeds.

In some embodiments, seeds are treated with a safener, followed by apost-emergence application of herbicide(s). In one embodiment, thepost-emergence application of herbicide(s) occurs about 7 to 10 daysfollowing planting of safener-treated seeds. In some embodiments, thesafener is cloquintocet, dichlormid, fluxofenim, or combinationsthereof.

In other aspects, the present invention provides a method forcontrolling weeds at a locus for growth of a rice plant or plant partthereof, the method comprising applying a composition comprisingherbicide(s) to the locus.

In some aspects, the present invention provides a method for controllingweeds at a locus for growth of a plant, the method comprising applying aherbicide composition to the locus; wherein said locus is: (a) a locusthat contains a rice plant or seed capable of producing a rice plant; or(b) a locus that will contain the rice plant or the seed after theherbicide composition is applied.

Following are non-limiting examples of various rice culturing methods,including the application of herbicide(s).

In the post-flood, post-emergence (transplanted) method, rice is grownto about the 2-4 leaf stage away from the field. The field is floodedand tilled (puddled) until a blend of mud is achieved. The rice plantsare then transplanted into the mud. Herbicide application typicallytakes place before or after flooding.

In the post-flood, post-emergence (water-seeded) method, rice is soakedfor about 24 hours or more, and then is sown into the surface of ashallow flooded field. Herbicide application is typically made afterweed germination.

In the pre-flood, post-emergence, direct-seeded (broadcast or drilled)method, rice is broadcast or planted with a planter under the soilsurface. The field may be flushed (watered) to promote rice growth. Thefield is flooded about a week or more after planting as the plantsgerminate. Herbicide application takes place typically before the flood,but after emergence of the rice plants.

In the pre-flood, post-emergence (Southeast Asia style) method, rice issoaked for about 24 hours or more. The field is puddled to the rightconsistency and drained. The pre-germinated seeds are then broadcast tothe surface of the soil. Flooding takes place as the rice develops.Herbicide application normally takes place before the flooding, butafter the emergence of the rice plants.

In the pre-emergence or delayed pre-emergence method, seeds are planted,usually with a planter. Herbicide is applied before emergence of therice or weeds.

Herbicide compositions can be applied, e.g., as foliar treatments, soiltreatments, seed treatments, or soil drenches. Application can be made,e.g., by spraying, dusting, broadcasting, or any other mode known in theart.

In one embodiment, herbicides can be used to control the growth of weedsin the vicinity of the rice plants of the invention. A herbicide towhich the rice plant of the invention is tolerant can be applied to theplot at a concentration sufficient to kill or inhibit the growth ofweeds. Concentrations of herbicide sufficient to kill or inhibit thegrowth of weeds are known in the art for typical circumstances, andgenerally depend on the particulars of the herbicide, the weeds beingcontrolled, the weather, the soil type, the degree of maturity of theweeds, and the like.

In another embodiment, the present invention provides a method forcontrolling weeds in the vicinity of rice plants. The method comprisesapplying an effective amount of herbicide(s) to the weeds and to therice plant, wherein the rice plant has increased tolerance to theherbicide(s) when compared to a wild-type rice plant. An “effectiveamount” of herbicide is an amount that is sufficient to kill or inhibitthe growth of particular weeds. What constitutes an “effective amount”depends on the particulars of the herbicide, the weeds being controlled,the weather, the soil type, the degree of maturity of the weeds, and thelike; such “effective amounts” for typical circumstances are well knownin the art.

In another aspect, herbicide(s) can be used as a seed treatment. In someembodiments, an effective concentration or an effective amount ofherbicide(s), or a composition comprising an effective concentration oran effective amount of herbicide(s) can be applied directly to the seedsprior to or during the sowing of the seeds. Seed treatment formulationsmay additionally comprise binders, and optionally colorants as well.

Binders can be added to improve the adhesion of the active materialsonto the seeds after treatment. Suitable binders include, e.g., blockcopolymers, EO/PO surfactants, polyvinylalcohols, polyvinylpyrrolidones,polyacrylates, polymethacrylates, polybutenes, polyisobutylenes,polystyrene, polyethyleneamines, polyethyleneamides, polyethyleneimines(e.g., Lupasol®, Polymin®), polyethers, polyurethanes, polyvinylacetate,tylose, and copolymers derived from these polymers.

The term “seed treatment” includes all suitable seed treatmenttechniques known in the art, including seed dressing, seed coating, seeddusting, seed soaking, and seed pelleting. Alternatively, or inaddition, soil may be treated by applying a formulation containing theherbicide (e.g., a granular formulation), for example with a seed drill,with optionally one or more solid or liquid, agriculturally acceptablecarriers, and optionally with one or more agriculturally acceptablesurfactants.

The present invention also comprises seeds coated with or containing aseed treatment formulation comprising herbicide(s). The term “coatedwith or containing” generally signifies that the active ingredient isfor the most part on the surface of the seed at the time of application,although a greater or lesser part of the ingredient may penetrate intothe seed, depending on the method of application. When the seed isplanted, it may absorb the active ingredient.

In some embodiments, the seed treatment with herbicide(s) or with aformulation comprising the herbicide(s) is applied by spraying ordusting the seeds, or otherwise treating the seeds, before the seeds aresown.

In other aspects, the present invention provides a method for combatingundesired vegetation or controlling weeds, comprising contacting seedsof the rice plants with herbicide(s) before sowing, or afterpre-germination, or both. The method can further comprise sowing theseeds, for example, in soil in a field or in a potting medium in agreenhouse. The method finds particular use in combating undesiredvegetation or controlling weeds in the immediate vicinity of the seed.The control of undesired vegetation is understood as the killing ofweeds, or otherwise retarding or inhibiting the normal growth of weeds.“Weeds,” in the broadest sense, should be understood as including allplants that grow in locations where they are undesired.

The weeds that may be treated include, for example, dicotyledonous andmonocotyledonous weeds. Monocotyledonous weeds include, but are notlimited to, weeds of the genera: Echinochloa, Setaria, Panicum,Digitaria, Phleum, Poa, Festuca, Eleusine, Brachiaria, Lolium, Bromus,Avena, Oryza, Cyperus, Sorghum, Agropyron, Cynodon, Monochoria,Fimbristyslis, Sagittaria, Eleocharis, Scirpus, Paspalum, Ischaemum,Sphenoclea, Dactyloctenium, Agrostis, Alopecurus, Canadaspis, and Apera.Dicotyledonous weeds include, but are not limited to, weeds of thegenera: Sinapis, Lepidium, Galium, Stellaria, Matricaria, Anthemis,Galinsoga, Chenopodium, Urtica, Senecio, Amaranthus, Portulaca,Xanthium, Convolvulus, Ipomoea, Polygonum, Sesbania, Ambrosia, Cirsium,Carduus, Sonchus, Solanum, Rorippa, Rotala, Lindernia, Lamium, Veronica,Abutilon, Emex, Datura, Viola, Galeopsis, Papaver, Centaurea, Trifolium,Ranunculus, Centrosaurus, and Taraxacum.

Examples of red/weedy rice include, but are not limited to, Oryzalongistaminata, Oryza sativa L. var. sylvatica, Oryza latifolia, Oryzabarthii A. Chev, Oryza punctata, and Oryza rufipogon.

Examples of Echinochloa spp. include, but are not limited to,Echinochloa colona, Echinochloa crusgalli, and Echinochloa oryzicola.

In addition, the weeds treated with the present invention can include,for example, crop plants that are growing in an undesired location.

In still further aspects, loci, plants, plant parts, or seeds aretreated with an agronomically acceptable composition that does notcontain an A.I. For example, the treatment may comprise one or moreagronomically-acceptable carriers, diluents, excipients, plant growthregulators, and the like; or an adjuvant, such as a surfactant, aspreader, a sticker, a penetrant, a drift-control agent, a crop oil, anemulsifier, a compatibility agent, or combinations thereof.

In other aspects, the present invention provides a product prepared fromthe rice plants of the invention, for example, brown rice (e.g., cargorice), broken rice (e.g., chits, brewer's rice), polished rice (e.g.,milled rice), rice hulls (e.g., husks, chaff), rice bran, rice pollards,rice mill feed, rice flour, rice oil, oiled rice bran, de-oiled ricebran, arrak, rice wine, poultry litter, and animal feed.

Further Embodiments of the Invention

As used herein, the term “plant” includes plant cells, plantprotoplasts, plant cells of tissue culture from which rice plants can beregenerated, plant calli, plant clumps, and plant cells that are intactin plants or parts of plants, such as pollen, flowers, embryos, ovules,seeds, pods, leaves, stems, roots, anthers, and the like. Thus, anotheraspect of this invention is to provide for cells that, upon growth anddifferentiation, produce a cultivar having essentially all of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of ‘PVL03.’

Techniques for transforming with and expressing desired structural genesand cultured cells are known in the art. Also, as known in the art, ricemay be transformed and regenerated such that whole plants containing andexpressing desired genes under regulatory control are obtained. Generaldescriptions of plant expression vectors and reporter genes andtransformation protocols can be found, for example, in Gruber et al.,“Vectors for Plant Transformation, in Methods in Plant Molecular Biology& Biotechnology” in Glich et al. (Eds. pp. 89-119, CRC Press, 1993). Forexample, expression vectors and gene cassettes with the GUS reporter areavailable from Clone Tech Laboratories, Inc. (Palo Alto, Calif.), andexpression vectors and gene cassettes with luciferase reporter areavailable from Promega Corp. (Madison, Wis.). General methods ofculturing plant tissues are provided, for example, by Maki et al.,“Procedures for Introducing Foreign DNA into Plants” in Methods in PlantMolecular Biology & Biotechnology, Glich et al., (Eds. pp. 67-88 CRCPress, 1993); by Phillips et al., “Cell-Tissue Culture and In-VitroManipulation” in Corn & Corn Improvement, 3rd Edition; and by Sprague etal., (Eds. pp. 345-387) American Society of Agronomy Inc., 1988. Methodsof introducing expression vectors into plant tissue include the directinfection or co-cultivation of plant cells with Agrobacteriumtumefaciens, Horsch et al., Science, 227:1229 (1985). Descriptions ofAgrobacterium vectors systems and methods for Agrobacterium-mediatedgene transfer are provided by Gruber et al., supra.

Useful methods include but are not limited to expression vectorsintroduced into plant tissues using a direct gene transfer method suchas microprojectile-mediated delivery, DNA injection, electroporation,and the like. More preferably expression vectors are introduced intoplant tissues using the microprojectile media delivery with biolisticdevice- or Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Transformed plantsobtained with the germplasm of ‘PVL03’ are intended to be within thescope of this invention.

The present invention also provides rice plants regenerated from atissue culture of the ‘PVL03’ variety or hybrid plant. As is known inthe art, tissue culture can be used for the in vitro regeneration of arice plant. For example, see Chu, Q. R. et al. (1999) “Use of bridgingparents with high anther culturability to improve plant regeneration andbreeding value in rice,” Rice Biotechnology Quarterly, 38:25-26; Chu, Q.R. et al., “A novel plant regeneration medium for rice anther culture ofSouthern U.S. crosses,” Rice Biotechnology Quarterly, 35:15-16 (1998);Chu, Q. R. et al., “A novel basal medium for embryogenic callusinduction of Southern US crosses,” Rice Biotechnology Quarterly,32:19-20 (1997); and Oono, K., “Broadening the Genetic Variability ByTissue Culture Methods,” Jap. J. Breed., 33 (Supp. 2), 306-307 (1983).Thus, another aspect of this invention is to provide cells that, upongrowth and differentiation, produce rice plants having all, oressentially all, of the physiological and morphological characteristicsof variety ‘PVL03.’

Unless context clearly indicates otherwise, references in thespecification and claims to ‘PVL03’ should be understood also to includesingle gene conversions of ‘PVL03’ with a gene encoding a trait such as,for example, male sterility, other sources of herbicide resistance,resistance for bacterial, fungal, or viral disease, insect resistance,male fertility, enhanced nutritional quality, industrial usage, yieldstability and yield enhancement.

Duncan et al., Planta, 165:322-332 (1985) reflects that 97% of theplants cultured that produced callus were capable of plant regeneration.Subsequent experiments with both inbreds and hybrids produced 91%regenerable callus that produced plants. In a further study, Songstad etal., Plant Cell Reports, 7:262-265 (1988) reported several mediaadditions that enhanced regenerability of callus of two inbred lines.Other published reports also indicate that “nontraditional” tissues arecapable of producing somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration. K. P.Rao et al., Maize Genetics Cooperation Newsletter, 60:64-65 (1986),refers to somatic embryogenesis from glume callus cultures and B. V.Conger et al., Plant Cell Reports, 6:345-347 (1987) reported somaticembryogenesis from the tissue cultures of corn leaf segments. Thesemethods of obtaining plants are routinely used with a high rate ofsuccess.

Tissue culture of corn (maize) is described in European PatentApplication No. 160,390. Corn tissue culture procedures, which may beadapted for use with rice, are also described in Green et al., “PlantRegeneration in Tissue Culture of Maize,” Maize for Biological Research(Plant Molecular Biology Association, Charlottesville, Va., pp. 367-372,1982) and in Duncan et al., “The Production of Callus Capable of PlantRegeneration from Immature Embryos of Numerous Zea Mays Genotypes,” 165Planta, 322:332 (1985). Thus, another aspect of this invention is toprovide cells that, upon growth and differentiation, produce rice plantshaving all, or essentially all, of the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of hybrid rice line ‘PVL03.’ See T. P. Croughan et al.,(Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1991) Rice (Oryza sativa. L): Establishment ofCallus Culture and the regeneration of Plants, in Biotechnology inAgriculture and Forestry (19-37).

With the advent of molecular biological techniques that allow theisolation and characterization of genes that encode specific proteinproducts, it is now possible to routinely engineer plant genomes toincorporate and express foreign genes, or additional or modifiedversions of native, or endogenous, genes (perhaps driven by differentpromoters) in order to alter the traits of a plant in a specific manner.Such foreign, additional, and modified genes are herein referred tocollectively as “transgenes.” In recent years, several methods forproducing transgenic plants have been developed, and the presentinvention, in particular embodiments, also relates to transformedversions of ‘PVL03.’

An expression vector is constructed that will function in plant cells.Such a vector comprises a DNA coding sequence that is under the controlof or is operatively linked to a regulatory element (e.g., a promoter).The expression vector may contain one or more such operably linkedcoding sequence/regulatory element combinations. The vector(s) may be inthe form of a plasmid or virus, and can be used alone or in combinationwith other plasmids or viruses to provide transformed rice plants.

Expression Vectors

Expression vectors commonly include at least one genetic “marker,”operably linked to a regulatory element (e.g., a promoter) that allowstransformed cells containing the marker to be either recovered bynegative selection, i.e., inhibiting growth of cells that do not containthe selectable marker gene, or by positive selection, i.e., screeningfor the product encoded by the genetic marker. Many commonly usedselectable marker genes for plant transformation are known in the art,and include, for example, genes that code for enzymes that metabolicallydetoxify a selective chemical inhibitor such as an antibiotic or aherbicide, or genes that encode an altered target that is insensitive tosuch an inhibitor. Positive selection methods are also known in the art.

For example, a commonly used selectable marker gene for planttransformation is that for neomycin phosphotransferase II (nptII),isolated from transposon Tn5, whose expression confers resistance tokanamycin. See Fraley et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 80:4803(1983). Another commonly used selectable marker gene is the hygromycinphosphotransferase gene, which confers resistance to the antibiotichygromycin. See Vanden Elzen et al., Plant Mol. Biol., 5:299 (1985).

Additional selectable marker genes of bacterial origin that conferresistance to one or more antibiotics include gentamycin acetyltransferase, streptomycin phosphotransferase, aminoglycoside-3′-adenyltransferase, and the bleomycin resistance determinant. Hayford et al.,Plant Physiol., 86:1216 (1988), Jones et al., Mol. Gen. Genet., 210:86(1987), Svab et al., Plant Mol. Biol., 14:197 (1990); Plant Mol. Biol.,7:171 (1986). Other selectable marker genes confer resistance toherbicides such as glyphosate, glufosinate, or broxynil. Comai et al.,Nature, 317:741-744 (1985); Gordon-Kamm et al., Plant Cell, 2:603-618(1990); and Stalker et al., Science, 242:419-423 (1988).

Selectable marker genes for plant transformation of non-bacterial origininclude, for example, mouse dihydrofolate reductase, plant5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase, and plant acetolactatesynthase. Eichholtz et al., Somatic Cell Mol. Genet. 13:67 (1987); Shahet al., Science, 233:478 (1986); and Charest et al., Plant Cell Rep.,8:643 (1990).

Another class of marker genes for plant transformation employs screeningof presumptively transformed plant cells, rather than selection forresistance to a toxic substance such as an antibiotic. These markergenes are particularly useful to quantify or visualize the spatialpattern of expression of a gene in specific tissues, and are frequentlyreferred to as reporter genes because they may be fused to the targetgene or regulatory sequence. Commonly used reporter genes includeglucuronidase (GUS), galactosidase, luciferase, chloramphenicol, andacetyltransferase. See Jefferson, R. A., Plant Mol. Biol. Rep., 5:387(1987); Teeri et al., EMBO J., 8:343 (1989); Koncz et al., Proc. Natl.Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 84:131 (1987); and DeBlock et al., EMBO J., 3:1681(1984). Another approach to identifying relatively rare transformationevents has been the use of a gene that encodes a dominant constitutiveregulator of the Zea mays anthocyanin pigmentation pathway. Ludwig etal., Science, 247:449 (1990).

The Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) gene has been used as a marker forgene expression in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. See Chalfie et al.,Science, 263:802 (1994). GFP and mutants of GFP may be used asscreenable markers.

Genes included in expression vectors are driven by a nucleotide sequencecomprising a regulatory element, for example, a promoter. Many suitablepromoters are known in the art, as are other regulatory elements thatmay be used either alone or in combination with promoters.

As used herein, “promoter” refers to a region of DNA upstream ordownstream from the transcription initiation site, a region that isinvolved in recognition and binding of RNA polymerase and other proteinsto initiate transcription. A “plant promoter” is a promoter capable ofinitiating transcription in plant cells. Examples of promoters underdevelopmental control include promoters that preferentially initiatetranscription in certain tissues, such as leaves, roots, seeds, fibers,xylem vessels, tracheids, or sclerenchyma. Such promoters are referredto as “tissue-preferred.” Promoters that initiate transcription only incertain tissue are referred to as “tissue-specific.” A “cell type”specific promoter primarily drives expression in certain cell types inone or more organs, for example, vascular cells in roots or leaves. An“inducible” promoter is a promoter that is under environmental control.Examples of environmental conditions that may induce transcription byinducible promoters include anaerobic conditions or the presence oflight. Tissue-specific, tissue-preferred, cell type specific, andinducible promoters are examples of “non-constitutive” promoters. A“constitutive” promoter is one that is generally active under mostenvironmental conditions.

A. Inducible Promoters

An inducible promoter is operably linked to a gene for expression inrice. Optionally, the inducible promoter is operably linked to anucleotide sequence encoding a signal sequence that is operably linkedto a gene for expression in rice. With an inducible promoter the rate oftranscription increases in response to an inducing agent.

Any suitable inducible promoter may be used in the present invention.See Ward et al., Plant Mol. Biol., 22:361-366 (1993). Examples includethose from the ACEI system, which responds to copper, Meft et al., PNAS,90:4567-4571 (1993); In2 gene from maize, which responds tobenzenesulfonamide herbicide safeners, Hershey et al., Mol. GenGenetics, 227:229-237 (1991); Gatz et al., Mol. Gen. Genetics, 243:32-38(1994); and Tet repressor from Tn10, Gatz, Mol. Gen. Genetics,227:229-237 (1991). A preferred inducible promoter is one that respondsto an inducing agent to which plants do not normally respond, forexample, the inducible promoter from a steroid hormone gene, thetranscriptional activity of which is induced by a glucocorticosteroidhormone. See Schena et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., U.S.A. 88:0421(1991).

B. Constitutive Promoters

A constitutive promoter is operably linked to a gene for expression inrice, or the constitutive promoter is operably linked to a nucleotidesequence encoding a signal sequence that is operably linked to a genefor expression in rice.

Constitutive promoters may also be used in the instant invention.Examples include promoters from plant viruses such as the 35S promoterfrom cauliflower mosaic virus, Odell et al., Nature, 313:810-812 (1985),and the promoters from the rice actin gene, McElroy et al., Plant Cell,2:163-171 (1990); ubiquitin, Christensen et al., Plant Mol. Biol.,12:619-632 (1989) and Christensen et al., Plant Mol. Biol. 18:675-689(1992); pEMU, Last et al., Theor. Appl. Genet., 81:581-588 (1991); MAS,Velten et al., EMBO J, 3:2723-2730 (1984); and maize H3 histone, Lepetitet al., Mol. Gen. Genetics, 231:276-285 (1992) and Atanassova et al.,Plant Journal, 2 (3): 291-300 (1992). An ACCase promoter, such as a riceACCase promoter, may be used as a constitutive promoter.

C. Tissue-Specific or Tissue-Preferred Promoters

A tissue-specific promoter is operably linked to a gene for expressionin rice. Optionally, the tissue-specific promoter is operably linked toa nucleotide sequence encoding a signal sequence that is operably linkedto a gene for expression in rice. Transformed plants produce theexpression product of the transgene exclusively, or preferentially, inspecific tissue(s).

Any tissue-specific or tissue-preferred promoter may be used in theinstant invention. Examples of tissue-specific or tissue-preferredpromoters include those from the phaseolin gene, Murai et al., Science,23:476-482 (1983), and Sengupta-Gopalan et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.U.S.A., 82:3320-3324 (1985); a leaf-specific and light-induced promotersuch as that from cab or rubisco, Simpson et al., EMBO J.,4(11):2723-2729 (1985) and Timko et al., Nature, 318:579-582 (1985); ananther-specific promoter such as that from LAT52, Twell et al., Mol.Gen. Genetics, 217:240-245 (1989); a pollen-specific promoter such asthat from Zm13, Guerrero et al., Mol. Gen. Genetics, 244:161-168 (1993);or a microspore-preferred promoter such as that from apg, Twell et al.,Sex. Plant Reprod., 6:217-224 (1993).

Signal Sequences for Targeting Proteins to Subcellular Compartments

Transport of protein or peptide molecules produced by transgenes to asubcellular compartment such as a chloroplast, vacuole, peroxisome,glyoxysome, cell wall, or mitochondrion, or for secretion into anapoplast, is accomplished by operably linking a nucleotide sequenceencoding a signal sequence to the 5′ or 3′ end of a gene encoding theprotein or peptide of interest. Targeting sequences at the 5′ or 3′ endof the structural gene may determine, during protein synthesis andprocessing, where the encoded protein is ultimately compartmentalized.

Many signal sequences are known in the art. See, for example, Becker etal., Plant Mol. Biol., 20:49 (1992); Close, P. S., Master's Thesis, IowaState University (1993); Knox, C. et al., “Structure and Organization ofTwo Divergent Alpha-Amylase Genes from Barley,” Plant Mol. Biol., 9:3-17(1987); Lerner et al., Plant Physiol., 91:124-129 (1989); Fontes et al.,Plant Cell, 3:483-496 (1991); Matsuoka et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.,88:834 (1991); Gould et al., J. Cell. Biol., 108:1657 (1989); Creissenet al., Plant J., 2:129 (1991); Kalderon et al., “A short amino acidsequence able to specify nuclear location,” Cell, 39:499-509 (1984); andSteifel et al., “Expression of a maize cell wall hydroxyproline-richglycoprotein gene in early leaf and root vascular differentiation,”Plant Cell, 2:785-793 (1990).

Foreign Protein Genes and Agronomic Genes

Agronomically significant genes that may be transformed into rice plantsin accordance with the present invention include, for example, thefollowing:

-   -   1. Genes that Confer Resistance to Pests or Disease:        -   A. Plant disease resistance genes. Plant defenses are often            activated by specific interaction between the product of a            disease resistance gene (R) in the plant and the product of            a corresponding avirulence (Avr) gene in the pathogen. A            plant may be transformed with a cloned resistance gene to            engineer plants that are resistant to specific pathogen            strains. See, e.g., Jones et al., Science 266:789 (1994)            (cloning of the tomato Cf-9 gene for resistance to            Cladosporium fulvum); Martin et al., Science 262:1432 (1993)            (tomato Pto gene for resistance to Pseudomonas syringae pv.            Tomato encodes a protein kinase); and Mindrinos et al., Cell            78:1089 (1994) (Arabidopsis RSP2 gene for resistance to            Pseudomonas syringae).        -   B. A Bacillus thuringiensis protein, a derivative thereof,            or a synthetic polypeptide modeled thereon. See, e.g.,            Geiser et al., Gene 48:109 (1986), disclosing the cloning            and nucleotide sequence of a Bt-endotoxin gene. DNA            molecules encoding endotoxin genes may be obtained from            American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, Va., e.g., under            ATCC Accession Nos. 40098, 67136, 31995, and 31998.        -   C. A lectin. See, for example, Van Damme et al., Plant            Molec. Biol. 24:25 (1994), disclosing the nucleotide            sequences of several Clivia miniata mannose-binding lectin            genes.        -   D. A vitamin-binding protein such as avidin. See PCT            Application US93/06487. This disclosure teaches the use of            avidin and avidin homologues as larvicides against insect            pests.        -   E. An enzyme inhibitor, e.g., a protease or proteinase            inhibitor or an amylase inhibitor. See, e.g., Abe et al., J.            Biol. Chem. 262:16793 (1987) (nucleotide sequence of rice            cysteine proteinase inhibitor); Huub et al., Plant Molec.            Biol. 21:985 (1993) (nucleotide sequence of cDNA encoding            tobacco proteinase inhibitor 1); and Sumitani et al.,            Biosci. Biotech. Biochem. 57:1243 (1993) (nucleotide            sequence of Streptomyces nitrosporeus-amylase inhibitor).        -   F. An insect-specific hormone or pheromone such as an            ecdysteroid and juvenile hormone, a variant thereof, a            mimetic based thereon, or an antagonist or agonist thereof.            See, e.g., Hammock et al., Nature, 344:458 (1990),            disclosing baculovirus expression of cloned juvenile hormone            esterase, an inactivator of juvenile hormone.        -   G. An insect-specific peptide or neuropeptide that, upon            expression, disrupts the physiology of the affected pest.            See, e.g., Regan, J. Biol. Chem. 269:9 (1994) (expression            cloning yields DNA coding for insect diuretic hormone            receptor); and Pratt et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm.,            163:1243 (1989) (an allostatin in Diploptera puntata). See            also U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,317 to Tomalski et al., disclosing            genes encoding insect-specific, paralytic neurotoxins.        -   H. An insect-specific venom produced in nature by a snake, a            wasp, etc. For example, see Pang et al., Gene, 116:165            (1992), concerning heterologous expression in plants of a            gene coding for a scorpion insectotoxic peptide.        -   I. An enzyme responsible for hyperaccumulation of a            monoterpene, a sesquiterpene, a steroid, hydroxamic acid, a            phenylpropanoid derivative or another non-protein molecule            with insecticidal activity.        -   J. An enzyme involved in the modification, including            post-translational modification, of a biologically active            molecule; e.g., a glycolytic enzyme, a proteolytic enzyme, a            lipolytic enzyme, a nuclease, a cyclase, a transaminase, an            esterase, a hydrolase, a phosphatase, a kinase, a            phosphorylase, a polymerase, an elastase, a chitinase, or a            glucanase, either natural or synthetic. See PCT Application            WO 9302197 to Scott et al., which discloses the nucleotide            sequence of a callase gene. DNA molecules that contain            chitinase-encoding sequences can be obtained, for example,            from the American Type Culture Collection under Accession            Nos. 39637 and 67152. See also Kramer et al., Insect            Biochem. Molec. Biol. 23:691 (1993), which discloses the            nucleotide sequence of a cDNA encoding tobacco hookworm            chitinase; and Kawalleck et al., Plant Molec. Biol., 21:673            (1993), which discloses the nucleotide sequence of the            parsley ubi4-2 polyubiquitin gene.        -   K. A molecule that stimulates signal transduction. See,            e.g., Botella et al., Plant Molec. Biol., 24:757 (1994),            which discloses nucleotide sequences for mung bean            calmodulin cDNA clones; and Griess et al., Plant Physiol.,            104:1467 (1994), which discloses the nucleotide sequence of            a maize calmodulin cDNA clone.        -   L. An antimicrobial or amphipathic peptide. See PCT            Application WO 9516776 (disclosing peptide derivatives of            Tachyplesin that inhibit fungal plant pathogens); and PCT            Application WO 9518855 (disclosing synthetic antimicrobial            peptides that confer disease resistance).        -   M. A membrane permease, a channel former or a channel            blocker. See, e.g., Jaynes et al., Plant Sci., 89:43 (1993),            which discloses heterologous expression of a cecropin lytic            peptide analog to render transgenic tobacco plants resistant            to Pseudomonas solanacearum.        -   N. A viral-invasive protein or a complex toxin derived            therefrom. For example, the accumulation of viral coat            proteins in transformed plant cells induces resistance to            viral infection or disease development caused by the virus            from which the coat protein gene is derived, as well as by            related viruses. Coat protein-mediated resistance has been            conferred upon transformed plants against alfalfa mosaic            virus, cucumber mosaic virus, tobacco streak virus, potato            virus X, potato virus Y, tobacco etch virus, tobacco rattle            virus, and tobacco mosaic virus. See Beachy et al., Ann.            Rev. Phytopathol., 28:451 (1990).        -   O. An insect-specific antibody or an immunotoxin derived            therefrom. Thus, an antibody targeted to a critical            metabolic function in the insect gut inactivates an affected            enzyme, killing the insect. See Taylor et al., Abstract            #497, Seventh Int'l Symposium on Molecular Plant-Microbe            Interactions (Edinburgh, Scotland, 1994) (enzymatic            inactivation in transgenic tobacco via production of            single-chain antibody fragments).        -   P. A virus-specific antibody. See, e.g., Tavladoraki et al.,            Nature, 366:469 (1993), showing protection of transgenic            plants expressing recombinant antibody genes from virus            attack.        -   Q. A developmental-arrest protein produced in nature by a            pathogen or a parasite. For example, fungal            endo-1,4-D-polygalacturonases facilitate fungal colonization            and plant nutrient release by solubilizing plant cell wall            homo-1,4-D-galacturonase. See Lamb et al., Bio/Technology,            10:1436 (1992). The cloning and characterization of a gene            that encodes a bean endopolygalacturonase-inhibiting protein            is described by Toubart et al., Plant J., 2:367 (1992).        -   R. A developmental-arrest protein produced in nature by a            plant. For example, Logemann et al., Bio/Technology,            10:305 (1992) reported that transgenic plants expressing the            barley ribosome-inactivating gene have an increased            resistance to fungal disease.    -   2. Genes that Confer Additional Resistance to a Herbicide,        Beyond that which is Inherent in ‘PVL03,’ for Example:        -   A. A herbicide that inhibits the growing point or meristem,            such as an imidazolinone or a sulfonylurea. Exemplary genes            in this category code for mutant ALS and AHAS enzymes as            described, for example, by Lee et al., EMBO J., 7:1241            (1988); and Miki et al., Theor. Appl. Genet., 80:449 (1990),            respectively. See, additionally, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,545,822;            5,736,629; 5,773,703; 5,773,704; 5,952,553; 6,274,796;            6,943,280; 7,019,196; 7,345,221; 7,399,905; 7,495,153;            7,754,947; 7,786,360; 8,841,525; 8,841,526; 8,946,528;            9,029,642; 9,090,904; and 9,220,220. Resistance to            AHAS-acting herbicides may be through a mechanism other than            a resistant AHAS enzyme. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,545,822.        -   B. Glyphosate: Resistance may be imparted by mutant            5-enolpyruvl-3-phosphikimate synthase (EPSP) and aroA genes.            Other phosphono compounds such as glufosinate: Resistance            may be imparted by phosphinothricin acetyl transferase, PAT,            and Streptomyces hygroscopicus phosphinothricin-acetyl            transferase, bar, genes. Pyridinoxy or phenoxy propionic            acids and cyclohexones: Resistance may be imparted by ACCase            inhibitor-encoding genes. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,835            to Shah et al., which discloses the nucleotide sequence of a            form of EPSP that confers glyphosate resistance. A DNA            molecule encoding a mutant aroA gene can be obtained under            ATCC Accession Number 39256, and the nucleotide sequence of            the mutant gene is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,061 to            Comai. European Patent Application No. 0333033 to Kumada et            al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,374 to Goodman et al., disclose            nucleotide sequences of glutamine synthetase genes that            confer resistance to herbicides such as L-phosphinothricin.            The nucleotide sequence of a            phosphinothricin-acetyl-transferase gene is provided in            European Application No. 0242246 to Leemans et al. and            DeGreef et al., Bio/Technology, 7:61 (1989), describing the            production of transgenic plants that express chimeric bar            genes coding for phosphinothricin acetyl transferase            activity. Examples of genes conferring resistance to phenoxy            propionic acids and cyclohexones, such as sethoxydim and            haloxyfop, are the Acc1-S1, Acc1-S2, and Acc1-S3 genes            described by Marshall et al., Theor. Appl. Genet., 83:435            (1992).        -   C. A herbicide that inhibits photosynthesis, such as a            triazine (psbA and gs+ genes) or a benzonitrile (nitrilase            gene). Przibilla et al., Plant Cell, 3:169 (1991), describe            the transformation of Chlamydomonas with plasmids encoding            mutant psbA genes. Nucleotide sequences for nitrilase genes            are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,648 to Stalker, and DNA            molecules containing these genes are available under ATCC            Accession Nos. 53435, 67441, and 67442. Cloning and            expression of DNA coding for a glutathione S-transferase is            described by Hayes et al., Biochem. J., 285:173 (1992).    -   3. Genes that Confer or Contribute to a Value-added Trait, such        as:        -   A. Modified fatty acid metabolism, for example, by            transforming a plant with an antisense sequence to            stearyl-ACP desaturase, to increase stearic acid content of            the plant. See Knultzon et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.            U.S.A. 89:2624 (1992).        -   B. Decreased Phytate Content            -   1) Introduction of a phytase-encoding gene would enhance                breakdown of phytate, adding more free phosphate to the                transformed plant. See, e.g., Van Hartingsveldt et al.,                Gene, 127:87 (1993), which discloses the nucleotide                sequence of an Aspergillus niger phytase gene.            -   2) A gene may be introduced to reduce phytate content.                For example, this may be accomplished by cloning, and                then reintroducing DNA associated with an allele that is                responsible for maize mutants characterized by low                levels of phytic acid, or a homologous or analogous                mutation in rice may be used. See Raboy et al., Maydica,                35:383 (1990).        -   C. Carbohydrate composition may be modified, for example, by            transforming plants with a gene coding for an enzyme that            alters the branching pattern of starch. See Shiroza et            al., J. Bacteol., 170:810 (1988) (nucleotide sequence of            Streptococcus mutant fructosyltransferase gene); Steinmetz            et al., Mol. Gen. Genet., 20:220 (1985) (nucleotide sequence            of Bacillus subtilis levansucrase gene); Pen et al.,            Bio/Technology, 10:292 (1992) (production of transgenic            plants that express Bacillus lichenifonnis amylase); Elliot            et al., Plant Molec. Biol., 21:515 (1993) (nucleotide            sequences of tomato invertase genes); Søgaard et al., J.            Biol. Chem., 268:22480 (1993) (site-directed mutagenesis of            barley amylase gene); and Fisher et al., Plant Physiol.,            102:1045 (1993) (maize endosperm starch branching enzyme            11).

Methods for Rice Transformation

Numerous methods for plant transformation are known in the art,including both biological and physical transformation protocols. See,e.g., Miki, et al., “Procedures for Introducing Foreign DNA into Plants”in Methods in Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology; Glick B. R. andThompson, J. E. (Eds.) (CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, 1993), pp. 67-88.In addition, expression vectors and in vitro culture methods for plantcell or tissue transformation and regeneration of plants are known inthe art. See, e.g., Gruber et al., “Vectors for Plant Transformation” inMethods in Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Glick B. R. andThompson, J. E. (Eds.) (CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, 1993), pp. 89-119.

A. Agrobacterium-Mediated Transformation

One method for introducing an expression vector into plants is based onthe natural transformation system of Agrobacterium. See, e.g., Horsch etal., Science, 227:1229 (1985). A. tumefaciens and A. rhizogenes areplant pathogenic soil bacteria that genetically transform plant cells.The Ti and Ri plasmids of A. tumefaciens and A. rhizogenes,respectively, carry genes responsible for genetic transformation ofplants. See, e.g., Kado, C. I., Crit. Rev. Plant Sci., 10:1 (1991).Descriptions of Agrobacterium vector systems and methods forAgrobacterium-mediated gene transfer are provided by Gruber et al.,supra; Miki et al., supra; and Moloney, et al., Plant Cell Reports,8:238 (1989). See also U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,616.

B. Direct Gene Transfer

Despite the fact the host range for Agrobacterium-mediatedtransformation is broad, it is more difficult to transform some cerealcrop species and gymnosperms via this mode of gene transfer, althoughsuccess has been achieved in both rice and corn. See Hiei et al., ThePlant Journal, 6:271-282 (1994); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,616. Othermethods of plant transformation exist as alternatives toAgrobacterium-mediated transformation.

A generally applicable method of plant transformation ismicroprojectile-mediated (so-called “gene gun”) transformation, in whichDNA is carried on the surface of microprojectiles, typically 1 to 4 μmin diameter. The expression vector is introduced into plant tissues witha biolistic device that accelerates the microprojectiles to typicalspeeds of 300 to 600 m/s, sufficient to penetrate plant cell walls andmembranes. Sanford et al., Part. Sci. Technol., 5:27 (1987); Sanford, J.C., Trends Biotech., 6:299 (1988); Klein et al., Bio/Technology,6:559-563 (1988); Sanford, J. C., Physiol Plant, 7:206 (1990); and Kleinet al., Biotechnology, 10:268 (1992). Various target tissues may bebombarded with DNA-coated microprojectiles to produce transgenic plants,including, for example, callus (Type I or Type II), immature embryos,and meristematic tissue.

Another method for physical delivery of DNA to plants is sonication oftarget cells. Zhang et al., Bio/Technology, 9:996 (1991). Alternatively,liposome or spheroplast fusion has been used to introduce expressionvectors into plants. Deshayes et al., EMBO 4:2731 (1985); and Christouet al., Proc Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 84:3962 (1987). Direct uptake ofDNA into protoplasts, using CaCl₂ precipitation, polyvinyl alcohol, orpoly-L-ornithine, has also been reported. Hain et al., Mol. Gen. Genet.,199:161 (1985); and Draper et al., Plant Cell Physiol., 23:451 (1982).Electroporation of protoplasts and whole cells and tissues has also beendescribed. Donn et al., in Abstracts of VIIth International Congress onPlant Cell and Tissue Culture IAPTC, A2-38, p. 53 (1990); D'Halluin etal., Plant Cell, 4:1495-1505 (1992); and Spencer et al., Plant Mol.Biol., 24:51-61 (1994).

Following transformation of rice target tissues, expression of aselectable marker gene allows preferential selection of transformedcells, tissues, or plants, using regeneration and selection methodsknown in the art.

These methods of transformation may be used for producing a transgenicinbred line. The transgenic inbred line may then be crossed with anotherinbred line (itself either transformed or non-transformed), to produce anew transgenic inbred line. Alternatively, a genetic trait that has beenengineered into a particular rice line may be moved into another lineusing traditional crossing and backcrossing techniques. For example,backcrossing may be used to move an engineered trait from a public,non-elite inbred line into an elite inbred line, or from an inbred linecontaining a foreign gene in its genome into an inbred line or linesthat do not contain that gene.

The term “inbred rice plant” should be understood also to include singlegene conversions of an inbred line. Backcrossing methods can be usedwith the present invention to improve or introduce a characteristic intoan inbred line.

Many single gene traits have been identified that are not regularlyselected for in the development of a new inbred line, but that may beimproved by crossing and backcrossing. Single gene traits may or may notbe transgenic. Examples of such traits include male sterility, waxystarch, herbicide resistance, resistance for bacterial or fungal orviral disease, insect resistance, male fertility, enhanced nutritionalquality, yield stability, and yield enhancement. These genes aregenerally inherited through the nucleus. Known exceptions to the nucleargenes include some genes for male sterility that are inheritedcytoplasmically, but that still act functionally as single gene traits.Several single gene traits are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,777,196;5,948,957; and 5,969,212.

Deposit Information

A sample of the rice cultivar designated ‘PVL03’ was deposited with theProvasoli-Guillard National Center for Marine Algae and Microbiota,Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Science, 60 Bigelow Drive, East Boothbay,Maine 04544, United States (NCMA) on 15 Sep. 2020, and was assigned NCMAAccession No. 202009005. This deposit was made under the BudapestTreaty.

Miscellaneous

The complete disclosures of all references cited in this specificationare hereby incorporated by reference. Also incorporated by reference isthe complete disclosure of priority application U.S. 63/084,637, filed29 Sep. 2020. In the event of an otherwise irreconcilable conflict,however, the present specification shall control.

1. A rice plant of the variety ‘PVL03,’ a representative sample of seedsof said variety having been deposited under NCMA Accession No.202009005; or an F₁ hybrid of the variety ‘PVL03,’ wherein said F₁hybrid expresses the ACCase herbicide resistance characteristics of‘PVL03.’
 2. The rice plant of claim 1, wherein said rice plant is a riceplant of the variety ‘PVL03.’.
 3. Rice seed of the rice plant of claim2, or rice seed capable of producing said rice plant.
 4. The rice plantof claim 1, wherein said rice plant is an F₁ hybrid of the variety‘PVL03.’.
 5. An F₁ hybrid seed of the rice variety ‘PVL03’ capable ofproducing the rice plant of claim
 4. 6. A rice seed of the rice plant ofclaim 1, or a rice seed capable of producing said rice plant.
 7. Theseed of claim 6, wherein said seed is treated with an ACCase-inhibitingherbicide.
 8. The seed of claim 7, wherein the ACCase-inhibitingherbicide comprises an aryloxyphenoxy herbicide.
 9. The seed of claim 7,wherein the ACCase-inhibiting herbicide comprises a cyclohexanedioneherbicide.
 10. Pollen of the plant of claim
 1. 11. An ovule of the plantof claim
 1. 12. A composition comprising a product prepared from therice plant of claim
 2. 13. A tissue culture of regenerable cells orprotoplasts produced from the rice plant of claim
 1. 14. The tissueculture of claim 13, wherein said regenerable cells or protoplasts areproduced from a tissue selected from the group consisting of embryos,meristematic cells, pollen, leaves, anthers, roots, root tips, flowers,seeds, and stems.
 15. A method for producing rice plants, said methodcomprising planting a plurality of rice seeds of the rice plant of claim1, or a plurality of rice seeds capable of producing said rice plant,under conditions favorable for the growth of rice plants.
 16. The methodof claim 15, additionally comprising the step of applying herbicide inthe vicinity of the rice plants, wherein the herbicide normally inhibitsacetyl-CoA carboxylase, at a level of the herbicide that would normallyinhibit the growth of a rice plant.
 17. The method of claim 16, furthercomprising applying the herbicide to weeds in the vicinity of the riceplants.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the herbicide comprises anaryloxyphenoxy herbicide.
 19. The method of claim 16, wherein theherbicide comprises a cyclohexanedione herbicide.
 20. The method ofclaim 16, wherein the herbicide comprises at least one of quizalofop,quizalofop-P, quizalofop-P-ethyl, quizalofop-P-tefuryl, haloxyfop,haloxyfop-P, fluazifop, cycloxydim, sethoxydim, tepraloxydim, ormixtures thereof.
 21. A method of producing a rice plant, said methodcomprising transforming the rice plant of claim 1 with a transgene thatconfers insect resistance; a transgene that confers disease resistance;or a transgene encoding a protein selected from the group consisting offructosyltransferase, levansucrase, alpha-amylase, invertase, andstarch-branching enzyme; or a transgene encoding an antisense sequenceto stearyl-ACP desaturase.
 22. A rice plant produced by the method ofclaim 21, or a rice seed capable of producing said rice plant.
 23. Amethod of introducing a desired trait into rice cultivar ‘PVL03,’ saidmethod comprising the steps of: (a) crossing plants as recited in claim1 with plants of another rice line expressing the desired trait, toproduce progeny plants; (b) selecting progeny plants that express thedesired trait, to produce selected progeny plants; (c) crossing theselected progeny plants with plants as recited in claim 1 to produce newprogeny plants; (d) selecting new progeny plants that express both thedesired trait and some or all of the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of rice cultivar ‘PVL03,’ to produce new selectedprogeny plants; and (e) repeating steps (c) and (d) three or more timesin succession, to produce selected higher generation backcross progenyplants that express both the desired trait and essentially all of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of rice cultivar‘PVL03,’ as described in the VARIETY DESCRIPTION INFORMATION of thespecification, determined at a 5% significance level, when grown in thesame environmental conditions; and wherein the selected plants expressthe ACCase herbicide resistance characteristics of ‘PVL03.’
 24. Themethod of claim 23, additionally comprising the step of planting aplurality of rice seed produced by selected higher generation backcrossprogeny plants under conditions favorable for the growth of rice plants.25. The method of claim 24, additionally comprising the step of applyingherbicide in the vicinity of the rice plants to control weeds, whereinthe herbicide normally inhibits acetyl-CoA carboxylase, at a level ofthe herbicide that would normally inhibit the growth of a rice plant.26. The method of claim 25, wherein the herbicide comprises anaryloxyphenoxy herbicide.
 27. The method of claim 25, wherein theherbicide comprises a cyclohexanedione herbicide.
 28. The method ofclaim 25, wherein the herbicide comprises at least one of quizalofop,quizalofop-P, quizalofop-P-ethyl, quizalofop-P-tefuryl, haloxyfop,haloxyfop-P, fluazifop, cycloxydim, sethoxydim, tepraloxydim, ormixtures thereof.
 29. The method of claim 23, wherein the selectedprogeny plants are F₁ hybrid plants.
 30. A method for treating the riceplant of claim 1; said method comprising applying herbicide in thevicinity of the rice plant, wherein the herbicide normally inhibitsacetyl-CoA carboxylase, at a level of the herbicide that would normallyinhibit the growth of a wild-type rice plant.
 31. The method of claim30, additionally comprising applying the herbicide to weeds in thevicinity of the rice plant.
 32. The method of claim 30, wherein theherbicide comprises an aryloxyphenoxy herbicide.
 33. The method of claim30, wherein the herbicide comprises a cyclohexanedione herbicide. 34.The method of claim 30, wherein the herbicide comprises at least one ofquizalofop, quizalofop-P, quizalofop-P-ethyl, quizalofop-P-tefuryl,haloxyfop, haloxyfop-P, fluazifop, cycloxydim, sethoxydim, tepraloxydim,or mixtures thereof.
 35. A method of introducing a desired trait intorice cultivar ‘PVL03,’ said method comprising the steps of: (a) crossingplants as recited in claim 2 with plants of another rice line expressingthe desired trait, to produce progeny plants; (b) selecting progenyplants that express the desired trait, to produce selected progenyplants; (c) crossing the selected progeny plants with plants as recitedin claim 2 to produce new progeny plants; (d) selecting new progenyplants that express both the desired trait and some or all of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of rice cultivar‘PVL03,’ to produce new selected progeny plants; and (e) repeating steps(c) and (d) three or more times in succession, to produce selectedhigher generation backcross progeny plants that express both the desiredtrait and essentially all of the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of rice cultivar ‘PVL03,’ as described in the VARIETYDESCRIPTION INFORMATION of the specification, determined at a 5%significance level, when grown in the same environmental conditions; andwherein the selected plants express the ACCase herbicide resistancecharacteristics of ‘PVL03.’
 36. A method for producing rice, comprisingbreeding a plant of claim 1 with another rice plant to produce a newplant, whereby the new plant comprises the ACCase herbicide resistancecharacteristics of ‘PVL03.’